tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30021052983670627772017-08-28T15:15:58.466+01:00World of SupermanAs I start to head into my late 20s, I realise that I'm only three years younger than the Man of Steel Superman. Join me as I chronicle and review his life.Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-62477817351017210982012-02-21T20:32:00.001+00:002012-02-21T20:32:17.690+00:00Shutting Up Shop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vrrnzGigg0s/T0P-5M8graI/AAAAAAAAAiY/prAkfz7DquA/s1600/Final+blog+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vrrnzGigg0s/T0P-5M8graI/AAAAAAAAAiY/prAkfz7DquA/s200/Final+blog+image.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>It's been 3 months since the last post appeared on World of Superman, and I'll be honest with you - I've not really thought about this blog since then. I've enjoyed doing what I've been doing here, but it's been more and more of a struggle to keep this thing on track over the past year, which is why I'm officially bringing the World of Superman to a close.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RB4LZ5jIxcE/T0P_BTc_YzI/AAAAAAAAAig/VvAGL9bKISg/s1600/Title+Image+v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RB4LZ5jIxcE/T0P_BTc_YzI/AAAAAAAAAig/VvAGL9bKISg/s200/Title+Image+v1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>But I'm not done with the internet, or with Superman! First off, there's my solo podcast project, the <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a>. Every two weeks, you'll get a random hit from my longbox. The latest episode is a 20th episode spectacular, taking a look at Incredible Hulk #26 from 2001, as well as a brief peek at Batman: The Black Mirror, a look forward to the imminent London Super Comic Convention, and some analysis of what the randomiser has chosen so far.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2baT1GsHobw/T0P_I1wlYzI/AAAAAAAAAio/7tiMTOZ1Chg/s1600/FF+Logo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2baT1GsHobw/T0P_I1wlYzI/AAAAAAAAAio/7tiMTOZ1Chg/s200/FF+Logo+2.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>I've also started a new podcast with Andrew Leyland of <a href="http://apleyland.podomatic.com/">Heykids Comics</a>, called <a href="http://ffcast.libsyn.com/">The Fantasticast</a>. This show covers every appearance of the Fantastic Four from the very beginning of the Marvel Age of Comics. I'm having a huge amount of fun with the show, and I love recording with Andrew, and I hope you'll stop by and check it out. New episodes arrive every two weeks, alternating with the 20 Minute Longbox, and the next episode will hit this coming weekend.<br /><br />As for Superman? Well, one of the most common questions I've been asked since starting this blog post is how I've decided to put the comics in the order I've chosen. Well, over the past few months, I've been working on a proto-timeline for Superman's life, covering from the earliest recorded days of Krypton up until the Millennium crossover. It's an early draft, and there's a lot still to add in, and as soon as I've plucked up the courage to read the last two issues of Millennium and add them in, I'll publish the timeline on this blog for you all to read and comment on. If the reception is good, then I'll see about getting through to the end of Exile as the next stage!<br /><br />And finally, keep your eyes peeled for a new blog from myself, a place for me to write about what interests me in the world of comics, movies and television, coming soon to an internet browser near you. No plot, no plan, just a gentle geek and his keyboard writing about what he wants to, when he wants to.<br /><br />Thank you for coming by over the past couple of years, for reading, for commenting, and for making this fun for a while. See you on my podcasts or at the new blog.<br /><br />Cheers!Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-26267509106370337102011-11-13T21:12:00.001+00:002011-11-13T21:23:44.391+00:00Superman #5 - The Mummy Strikes!<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">This isn't quite as planned, as my laptop is having a few problems reading my latest set of pictures, featuring all of my lovely MCM Expo goodies, from my memory card. So, whilst I wrestle with the technical issues, I figured it was probably worth &nbsp;getting back to the bread and butter of this blog - the life and times of the Post-Crisis Superman!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Don't forget to grab the latest episode of the <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a>. Not only is it a super-sized episode featuring my good friend Jon M. Wilson as a special guest-star, but it also contains an exciting announcement about a future project!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">And on with the issue!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/181/1872_20070419213350_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/181/1872_20070419213350_large.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The Mummy Strikes<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Writer-Penciller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Inker: Karl Kesel<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Letterer: John Costanza<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Editors: Andrew Helfer &amp; Michael Carlin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Art: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Date: May 1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Release Date: 12/02/1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Superman dreams of fighting Apokolitian Warhounds in Washington DC and the arrival of Wonder Woman. The two defeat the Warhounds together. Wonder Woman makes to leave, but Superman grasps her wrist. The two are about to kiss when Clark awakes, amazed at the intensity of his dream.&nbsp; Starting to wonder if there might now be place for romance in Superman’s life, Clark realises that he is late for work.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>At the Daily Planet, a package has arrived on Clark’s desk. Distracted by Cat Grant’s flirting, Clark forgets about it. Summoned to Perry’s office, he sees a video message from Lois Lane giving an update on her secondment to an archaeological dig that suddenly cuts out. Perry sends Clark to South America to investigate.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman flies to South America before changing in a dig tent. As Clark, he meets up with Lois, who has been trying to fix the radio. She accuses him of trying to scoop her again, before reluctantly mellowing as he convinces her that he is here to help. Dr Estevez, the dig chief, shows Clark a piece of machine-tooled metal found inside a 3000 year old jar, the key to the dig. Descending into the site, Clark sees futuristic panels secreted behind naturally grown stalagmites, which are the source of the interference that blocks communications. As Estevez attempts to work the panels, a wall crumbles as two large bandage-wrapped hands burst through.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>The hands belong to a giant mummy-like creature that attacks Clark and Lois with eyebeams. Clark gets Lois and Estevez to safety, wondering how he can use his powers without compromising his identity. He uses his heat vision to bring a section of the roof down around him, giving him cover to use his powers. The ‘mummy’ surprises him however, by blasting into the air with rockets. Clark has to pull his punches, as his x-ray vision cannot penetrate the ‘mummy’ to discover if it is a living being or a robot.&nbsp; He realises that he cannot change into Superman as he hasn’t shaved, and both Clark and Superman being seen by Lois in another country with stubble would be too obvious.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Clark lunges for the panels, trying to halt the attack. A giant explosion rocks the ruins. In the aftermath, Lois crawls into the rubble, looking for Clark. She finds him unconscious, and she and Estevez drag him to safety. Returning to investigate, she comes face to face with the ‘mummy’, whose bandages have disintegrated revealing a large robot underneath.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For the second issue in a row, John Byrne takes an opportunity to move beyond Superman’s rogues’ gallery and bring something new to the table. This issue is all about continuing to establish the world in which Clark and Superman operates, and raising the stakes of the threat. Explanations and revelations will be saved for the next issue; this is all about the setup.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It might be a given, considering that the book is named after him, but this really is Superman’s issue. I love his gentle rebuttal of Cat’s not-so-obvious flirting, caused by him forgetting to shave. I really appreciate the page where Superman flies from Metropolis to South America, going suborbital to get there as quickly as he can. What is implied about this page is Superman’s intelligence. He knows how far away his destination is, and has a strong enough understanding of XXXX to be able to maximise his abilities to get there as quickly as possible.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The fight scene is a great example of Superman’s brains and brawn coming together. Realising that if both Clark and Superman appear to Lois with a five o’clock shadow then his secret will be out, Clark stays in costume and seals himself inside the ruins with the mummy-robot so that he can tackle it without worrying about his identity. This leads to come great visuals as Clark, clad in khakis, a shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a tie, goes toe-to-toe with a 20-foot tall mummy. I also like that he pulls his punches in case the mummy is an innocent living being, showing a respect for life regardless of the circumstances.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The cliffhanger to the issue is nice and strong. Clark, his secret safe thanks to not getting changed, is rendered unconscious by a huge explosion, whilst Lois is menaced by the unwrapped mummy, revealed to be a sleek-but-giant robot. We’ll see next week that the story takes a turn that’s nearly impossible to predict from the information given in this issue, which, in my opinion, makes the story stronger without cheating the reader.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>The intensity of Superman’s Wonder Woman dream is probably an after-effect of Prana’s attack in Adventures of Superman #427. Superman met Wonder Woman in Legends #6, and will feel drawn to her over the next year-or-so’s worth of stories. Look for Action Comics #600 to see what will happen between the two of them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The mysterious package has been seen before, but for the sake of spoilers (!) I’ll hold off any futher commentary until we come to resolve this plotline in the books.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Collected in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol 3. It was covered in depth on <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_007.mp3">episode 7 of From Crisis To Crisis.</a><o:p></o:p></div><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b><br />Next on World of Superman: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Superman #6. Well, what did you expect?</span>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-10142534231475370102011-11-10T18:00:00.000+00:002011-11-10T18:00:04.654+00:00MCM Expo: The Pictures, The MemoriesIt's MCM Expo week here at World of Superman, taking a look back at this October's MCM Expo. Today, I'll be letting my pictures tell the story of the Expo. But, to warn you, I'm not a great convention photographer. I tend to feel very British and uncomfortable asking for pictures, and some experiences just cannot be captured in photographs. But I've got what I've got, and I'd like to take you on a journey!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c2lQzGCrHNM/TrmKIOCbaUI/AAAAAAAAAcU/dGCNBuSc9NI/s1600/IMG_1397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c2lQzGCrHNM/TrmKIOCbaUI/AAAAAAAAAcU/dGCNBuSc9NI/s320/IMG_1397.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>All good journeys to the EXCEL Centre involve the Jubilee Line, and to my surprise, I sat down next to a Spanish lady who happened to have this emblazoned on her bag. A wonderfully appropriate start to the weekend, and a great way to introduce myself to Guest of Honour Gail Simone later on that day.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87cpw5iEVi8/TrmKP2yuX-I/AAAAAAAAAck/vcahiBspp1Y/s1600/IMG_1399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87cpw5iEVi8/TrmKP2yuX-I/AAAAAAAAAck/vcahiBspp1Y/s320/IMG_1399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>From the Underground to the Docklands Light Railway. Can you spot anyone who might be coming to the Expo? I love playing spot the cosplayer, seeing how early I pick them up on my journey from Surbiton to Docklands. This year, I had one on Surbiton station, only 10 minutes into the 90 minute journey, which was a record!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFa0mgAeBuA/TrmKSCut3CI/AAAAAAAAAc0/rCyPRBjw5dg/s1600/IMG_1401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFa0mgAeBuA/TrmKSCut3CI/AAAAAAAAAc0/rCyPRBjw5dg/s320/IMG_1401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The title sponsor this year was Arkham City. This was the main entrance to the Expo halls, about 1pm, an hour before opening. The best thing about the Friday early entry is being able to get your hands on the hot games without queuing for hours, and I was able to while away some time playing the first section of the game. Having not played Arkham Asylum before, I was blown away by the attention to detail and the depictions of the characters within. Sadly, the game was on an Xbox 360, a console I've had no experience playing on, so I wasn't very good at it at all...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dWoZj0Zpf4g/TrmKaPFEhVI/AAAAAAAAAdU/Ssbs4RcvdEk/s1600/IMG_1405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dWoZj0Zpf4g/TrmKaPFEhVI/AAAAAAAAAdU/Ssbs4RcvdEk/s320/IMG_1405.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The queueing hall, 5 minutes after the doors should have opened. As much as I hate queuing for an hour, I do enjoy the sense of anticipation and fun you get in one of these queues. I met the lovely <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/PwnageSniper">@pwnagesniper</a>, who was attending for the first time, and together we whiled away the queue.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--muvjbdleOU/TrmKbNBicWI/AAAAAAAAAdc/l9qK3iEYsuQ/s1600/IMG_1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--muvjbdleOU/TrmKbNBicWI/AAAAAAAAAdc/l9qK3iEYsuQ/s320/IMG_1406.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The doors, about 30 seconds after opening. No-one's gone through them yet. The con is open!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7m6NFP9gsJA/TrmKeaZ3RbI/AAAAAAAAAd0/81TcVF0w7o0/s1600/IMG_1412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7m6NFP9gsJA/TrmKeaZ3RbI/AAAAAAAAAd0/81TcVF0w7o0/s320/IMG_1412.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As always, my first port of call was the Comic Village, which this year had moved across the main hall and had grown across to the other side of the main walkway. Friday isn't always the greatest day for the Village, as about half of the creators don't attend until the weekend proper, but there's always enough great people to spend some time getting to know, and the lack of crowds means that you can get some great chatting time with people. Picture above is the great <a href="http://charcocomics.blogspot.com/">Ciaran Lucas</a>, working with a digital inking pen whilst inking the 11th Doctor. Unfortunately, not long after this picture was taken, he introduced me to the 'delight' that is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Forever. I'm not Bronie... but I'm close...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6UMbga1gHzY/TrmKkeegWEI/AAAAAAAAAec/sJUQyBdBKAU/s1600/IMG_1417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6UMbga1gHzY/TrmKkeegWEI/AAAAAAAAAec/sJUQyBdBKAU/s320/IMG_1417.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Behind the Goblin suit is Claude of <a href="http://gronkcomics.com/">Gronk Comics</a>, a must-meet every time I head to the convention. Claude has a great, weird sense of humour, he can happily geek out about comics at any point in the day, and his own comics are always worth spending some money on. Saturday was his Green Goblin day....<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_8mLd1FZXcY/TrmK7Y0mcNI/AAAAAAAAAgs/Sg9_c9h2A3c/s1600/IMG_1436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_8mLd1FZXcY/TrmK7Y0mcNI/AAAAAAAAAgs/Sg9_c9h2A3c/s320/IMG_1436.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>... and Sunday was his Hobgoblin day. Sadly, no love for the Demogoblin...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmgb9PuSPKM/TrmK0eMRV4I/AAAAAAAAAf0/OKcMlkDBZ3Y/s1600/IMG_1428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmgb9PuSPKM/TrmK0eMRV4I/AAAAAAAAAf0/OKcMlkDBZ3Y/s320/IMG_1428.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I normally get annoyed when a signing is interrupted by some cosplayers, but when those cosplayers were as good as this, I couldn't complain. Gail Simone was happily signing my pile of Action Comics (pictures tomorrow) when the Secret Six - and friends - arrived to say hello. Gail was an absolute joy to have as guest of honour, so free with her time and willing to be a part of the convention. It was absolutely great to see her solo panel on the Sunday packed out - standing room only, which was the first time I'd seen the audience so full for a comics-related panel at MCM.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXHuiTzefnM/TrmK3C8yjbI/AAAAAAAAAgM/GnIGvcGIFLk/s1600/IMG_1432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXHuiTzefnM/TrmK3C8yjbI/AAAAAAAAAgM/GnIGvcGIFLk/s320/IMG_1432.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>It's always a delight to spend some time at John McCrea's table. We had a wonderful chat last time about Hitman, as he proudly showed off some of his original artwork that he had for sale. John very kindly let me watch him work on a commission and take some pictures. As an absolute non-artist, I am genuinely impressed with the skills of anyone who can create such fantastic images with just a pen and paper.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TzgW8G7ejYw/TrmK4B_pZII/AAAAAAAAAgU/8zrs6E7HADE/s1600/IMG_1433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TzgW8G7ejYw/TrmK4B_pZII/AAAAAAAAAgU/8zrs6E7HADE/s320/IMG_1433.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Does this look familiar to anyone? The book is a custom binding of The Demon Annual #2, Batman Chronicles #4, and the first 30 issues of Hitman.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H_EhqQm1FKs/TrmK5F6Ss6I/AAAAAAAAAgc/IUFlBK6szhw/s1600/IMG_1434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H_EhqQm1FKs/TrmK5F6Ss6I/AAAAAAAAAgc/IUFlBK6szhw/s320/IMG_1434.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You may recognise it as an upside-down Tommy Monaghan, fighting hordes of zombified sea creatures. If you don't understand why this is absolutely amazing, then run very fast to your local comic shop and purchase Hitman vol 3.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYkWYr7vJMI/TrmKcZLS3EI/AAAAAAAAAdk/-REIobYTFqA/s1600/IMG_1410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYkWYr7vJMI/TrmKcZLS3EI/AAAAAAAAAdk/-REIobYTFqA/s320/IMG_1410.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No con would be complete without some cosplay, and this wonderful teeny-tiny Wolverine was the first thing I saw when I came through the doors on the Friday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZLNGlvXEp8/TrmKdKcMm4I/AAAAAAAAAds/VQkUwZBHI1k/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZLNGlvXEp8/TrmKdKcMm4I/AAAAAAAAAds/VQkUwZBHI1k/s320/IMG_1411.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fantastic Four cosplay is not very common, so I just had to grab a shot of this guy. Of course, I also have some ulterior motives for getting a picture of something Fantastic Four related, but you're going to have to wait just a little longer to find out why!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e9B18H5xwYc/TrmK6Hs-E2I/AAAAAAAAAgk/mhdClgNL7jM/s1600/IMG_1435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e9B18H5xwYc/TrmK6Hs-E2I/AAAAAAAAAgk/mhdClgNL7jM/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I just loved the attention to detail on this. Well, maybe not the belt, but the darker blue on the costume really works for me. Red Son cosplay is awesome!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's so many other memories that sadly aren't connected to photographs, so I think for the sake of brevity, I'll only cover a couple of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first was a signing and chat with the always-lovely Tony Lee. Whilst he took my money and signed my stuff, he handed me his iPad, which was loaded with his proof copy of his final Doctor Who comic. I was the second person other than himself to read the book in the UK. It's a Christmas Special, entirely without words (with the exception of a highly appropriate final page), and it's a great way to end his run on the title. As well as my traditional Doctor Who comics, I also picked up a copy of his and Dan Boultwood's Hope Falls, a dark and brilliant tale of an angel falling to hell but taking the murderers of her mortal form with her. It's got one of the bleakest and most brilliant endings I have ever read, and when this makes it to the big screen in a few years, it's going to be a great film.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The other was a wonderfully pleasant chat with David Hine. I'm on good terms with him, thanks to my love of his first Marvel work, Daredevil: Redemption. We spoke a lot about his recent Batman work (did you know that his Detective Comics story involving gangs of fake Batmen and Jokers is actually a tie-in to a currently-unreleased video game?), and he showed me several preview pages by Shaky Kane for their upcoming Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred, their sequel to their highly-regarded 2010 project, Bulletproof Coffin.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had a superb time at MCM Expo. Check back tomorrow for pictures of my loot from across the show!</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-23100518917457057552011-11-09T18:00:00.000+00:002011-11-09T18:00:05.592+00:00MCM Expo: The Thrill ElectricIt's a belated MCM Expo week at World of Superman, taking a look at all the fun and games I had at this November's MCM Expo. Today, I'll be taking a look at a webcomic project that is redefining what webcomics can do - <a href="http://www.thethrillelectric.com/">The Thrill Electric.</a><div><br /></div><div>The team behind The Thrill Electric took the stage first thing Saturday morning to show off their work and talk about the inspiration and the making of the comic. Writers <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/leahmoore">Leah Moore</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/johnreppion">John Reppion</a>, designer <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Emmavieceli">Emma Vieceli</a>, and artist Kit Buss from Windflower Studios attended:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6nV6YsSoig/TrmDg7xbeAI/AAAAAAAAAb8/Wd2oNgfHL-E/s1600/IMG_1419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6nV6YsSoig/TrmDg7xbeAI/AAAAAAAAAb8/Wd2oNgfHL-E/s320/IMG_1419.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>From left to right: Emma Vieceli, Leah Moore, Kit Buss, John Reppion</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Thrill Electric is a 12 part, weekly comic chronicling the life and times of various characters whose lives revolve around the telegraph in 19th century Manchester. Leah and John talked about the origins of the strip, arising from research that discovered that, for skilled operators, the telegraph facilitated as much timewasting as facebook and twitter do today. This attitude provides a hook for the readers to bring them into the story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The webcomic itself is gorgeous. Emma Vieceli's designs have been handled incredibly well by Windflower Studios, a team of four who worked for nearly a year to turn the scripts and designs into the full comic. There are sound effects, links from within the pages to wider research (the project is funded by Channel 4, and is seen as an educational project), and moments where you can head into the inner thoughts of the characters. There is constant motion within the panels, whether animation or the elements of the panels moving to provide interest. All of these provide an experience that is deeper than just reading a comic that has been designed for print but is being read on a screen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1j0ZpVff-A/TrmDh8YVpZI/AAAAAAAAAcE/0qoLKdPM9Mo/s1600/IMG_1420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1j0ZpVff-A/TrmDh8YVpZI/AAAAAAAAAcE/0qoLKdPM9Mo/s320/IMG_1420.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But there are two features of this project that really make this stand out. The first is that each instalment features a moment of total animation, the 30 seconds or so of film from the first issue functioning almost as a title sequence. The second is the enhancements that pop up in each issue. Moore and Reppion talked about trying to create moments in each issue that could only exist in a project of this format, and of working to ensure that each one is unique. The enhancement in the 2nd issue is genuinely revolutionary, and not even months of spoilage on Bleeding Cool could lessen the impact of this. I won't spoil it for you, except to say that it's as close to having a Steadicam shot featuring the same characters throughout that you can get in comics.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dGjegUvnzcQ/TrmDjHftyjI/AAAAAAAAAcM/g-NwxJ6S0Uk/s1600/IMG_1421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dGjegUvnzcQ/TrmDjHftyjI/AAAAAAAAAcM/g-NwxJ6S0Uk/s320/IMG_1421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To put it simply: This is a great read, not just for the whistles and bells and the joys of experimenting with and developing the webcomic format. Episode three has just been released, and there are nine more to come, one a week. Check it out and enjoy!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next on World of Superman: A pictoral trawl through the MCM Expo.</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-38200732435671909272011-11-08T11:26:00.001+00:002011-11-08T11:26:08.231+00:00MCM Expo: Battle Of The BloggersIt’s MCM Expo week at the World of Superman, covering everything I got up to this weekend at London’s biggest Con. It was a great weekend, full of comics and comic-y people. In a couple of days I’ll be posting a full rundown of the people, the purchases, the signings and the loot. Today, however, I’ll be taking a look at the Battle of the Bloggers event I participated in on the Sunday afternoon.<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZgaLaeYbmY/TrkPBWVCcyI/AAAAAAAAAbs/DjqrfVd3sCo/s1600/Battle-Logo-Contestant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZgaLaeYbmY/TrkPBWVCcyI/AAAAAAAAAbs/DjqrfVd3sCo/s320/Battle-Logo-Contestant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes, at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, the Memorabilia Stage played host to the grandest blogger slamdown of the weekend. My opponents were officially the superb <a href="http://www.tonyotimes.com/">Tonyo Time</a>s, but it soon turned into a three-way battle with the audience eager to hoover up discarded points along the way. We had to answer a series of challenging questions covering all elements of geekery and fandom, loosely based around events, promotions and products featured at the MCM Expo.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I got off to a bad start, failing on my knowledge of both the new Footloose film and anime-based videogames (although I really should have guessed Dragonball). However, a couple of lucky guesses around SyFy television shows had me back in the game. The game continued, with the audience rewarded with spot-prizes for picking up on any passes or incorrect answers from the contestants.</div><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">However, the battle was soon over, and when the dust had settled, it turned out that I had won, by a score of 7-5. However, both of us were winners, sharing the prizes between us.&nbsp; Prizes included Disney Universe for the Wii, a book of Sci-Fi art, various pieces of In Time promotional gear, some really nice in-ear headphones, a USB drive, and a funky pyramid clock.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I now get to&nbsp; travel to Birmingham in a few weeks to the Memorabilia event there, where the grand final of the Battle of the Bloggers will take place. A big thank you to Kat and Phil from <a href="http://www.blogomatic3000.com/">Blogomatic 3000</a> for organising the event, and to the team from <a href="http://www.tonyotimes.com/">TonyoTime</a>s for providing great competition. A couple of people recorded the event, so as soon as the videos hit youtube, I’ll post them here.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">One final thing: As part of entering the event, I was given this for the Sunday:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6i1MIQYO5M/TrkRl4r7GnI/AAAAAAAAAb0/mkuWWg5-Jdk/s1600/IMG_1449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6i1MIQYO5M/TrkRl4r7GnI/AAAAAAAAAb0/mkuWWg5-Jdk/s320/IMG_1449.JPG" width="240" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think this could be the start of something beautiful…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Next on World of Superman: The Thrill Electric!<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-92024206596084095722011-10-25T22:20:00.001+01:002011-10-25T22:20:28.632+01:00A brief rest and the MCM ExpoYes, I know the more long-term readers of this blog are rolling their eyes at this. 'Oh look,' they're thinking, 'the World of Superman is taking a break from regular posting again'. Sadly, I am. But this isn't because I've run out of steam, or I've found a new shiny thing to attract my attention. I'm actually written up for two weeks solid of posting, and planned further ahead than I have been for a very long time.<br /><br />So, why the break?<br /><br />I work in retail, and you don't need to work in retail to know that this time of year is a killer. On top of the Christmas run-up, the store I'm working in is going through a refurbishment, with the completion date set for next Thursday. This refurb is an absolute back-breaker. For two weeks now I've been working 6 day weeks, leaving the house at 6.30am and getting home around the 10pm mark. I just don't have the time to sit down, set up the hyperlinks, choose the images for the post, and generally spend the hour or so I need to turn a block of text into a blog post. So I'm not going to do so until the start of November, when I get a week off work and I can get some Superman posts up.<br /><br />But there will still be activity over here. This weekend sees me once again at the EXCEL centre in London, attending the MCM Expo. And not only am I attending, but I will be participating. At some point on Sunday afternoon, in the Memorabilia side of the convention, I will be competing in the MCM/Blogomatic 3000 Battle of The Bloggers competition, fighting for the glory of this blog.<br /><br />I've been issues with a press pass for the day, my first one ever. It says 'World of Superman' on it, and everything! I'm so happy! And so, to justify this, I'll be providing some stronger coverage of the event than I have done so before. Expect to see posts and pictures of the event over the week or so following the Expo, as well as an account of battling other bloggers for a superbly geeky title. Just not very many manga questions please...<br /><br />If you're going to be around at the Expo, do stop by the Battle and cheer me on. If you want to say 'hi', drop me a mention on twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/quizlacey">@quizlacey</a> - and we can try and find each other across the halls. It's a fairly good bet that I'll be camping the Comics Village anyway!<br /><br />So, basically, Superman's taking a brief break from the blog, but convention coverage should fill in the gaps.Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-32711325556590883602011-10-21T17:45:00.002+01:002011-10-21T17:45:47.822+01:00Goodbye, Hello: Part 3<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Welcome back to the list of things I will and won’t miss about Superman in the New 52. After last week’s looks at two sides of Superman’s family, this week, I’ll be focusing on the most important personal relationship Superman has – his marriage with Lois.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The Third Thing I’m Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52:<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>The Marriage<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/114/60731_20060829233931_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/114/60731_20060829233931_large.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">If I had to name the one thing above all others that defined the post-Crisis Superman, I think I would end up choosing the relationship and marriage of Lois and Clark. I don’t have a lot of time for the pre-Crisis relationship between the two, with constant deceit on Superman’s part to protect his identity, and Lois’s repeated attempts to uncover Superman’s secret. I do like how this was played with in the aftermath of the Crisis, with soap-opera love triangles involving Cat Grant and Jose Delgado, as both Lois and Clark were written as proper characters, rather than ciphers jumping through the hoops of the highly-formatted Silver Age issues. But it was the two getting together that really gave an emotional grounding to the series.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">And it wasn’t just the fact that they got together that made it. Clark made only the tiniest effort to continue living a double-life once the two got engaged, culminating in his coming out of the closet to Lois at the end of Superman #50. I feel that this is one of the most important moments in this period of comics. By sharing his secret with Lois, Clark allowed their relationship to move to a level barely seen before in any version of Superman. Finally, he had someone to come home to, someone to unwind with, someone who could help him bear the burden of being Superman.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S0CQ4b-cXAc/TqGgkpg-fnI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/MVuhrjamMas/s1600/2011-10-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S0CQ4b-cXAc/TqGgkpg-fnI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/MVuhrjamMas/s200/2011-10-21.jpg" width="126" /></a>The Death of Superman would not have been as strong a story if the reader hadn’t had the emotional hook of feeling Lois’s pain and isolation after watching her fiancé die, but being unable to share that with anyone. The shooting of Lois in Greg Rucka’s Adventures run would similarly have had less impact if we hadn’t have had such a strong emotional tie to her relationship with Clark. And we wouldn’t have had one of my personal favourite Superman/Lois moments in comics, when Superman finds Lois in the Phantom Zone towards the end of For Tomorrow and they reunite. (Yes, I’m a sap. I dislike a lot of that story, but I love that moment.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s painful to see Lois and Clark not together in the New 52. Frankly, seeing her new boyfriend in the doorway at the end of Superman #1 was as much of a kick to the gut for me as it was for Clark. The last 20 years of reading Lois and Clark as a couple have convinced me, more than anything else, that the two of them are destined to be together. I don’t want them married again within the year, but I’d like to think that the long-term Superman masterplan<span>&nbsp; </span>has the two of them moving closer together again.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The Third Thing I’m Not Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Joe Quesada’s feelings towards the marriage of Mary-Jane and Peter Parker are a mere passing whim when compared to the vendetta shown by the past decade’s worth of creative teams towards the marriage of Lois and Clark. In no particular order, we’ve had:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"></div><ul><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vzbk0QyD1Nc/TqGhkASReLI/AAAAAAAAAaY/1YoQqwSiNzo/s1600/2011-10-21.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vzbk0QyD1Nc/TqGhkASReLI/AAAAAAAAAaY/1YoQqwSiNzo/s200/2011-10-21.2.JPG" width="163" /></a><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>The Parasite impersonate Lois to poison Superman and drive her and Clark apart</li><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>Lois fail to deal with the death of her father in Our Worlds At War, heading off around the world and blaming Superman for not saving him</li><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>Chuck Austen</li><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>Well, OK, Chuck Austen writing Lana as a marriage-wrecking bitch, destroying her own marriage to Pete Ross and coming on to Clark in his parents house whilst Lois recovers from a gunshot wound</li><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>Major creative teams (Azzarello/Lee, Johns/Frank, JMS/Whoever) avoiding the issue entirely by underwriting Lois/finding reasons to not include her in the story that they want to tell</li><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span>Superman leave Earth to spend a year on New Krypton with little-to-no reflection on how this will affect his marriage</li></ul><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><br /> <div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">For over ten years, the marriage of Lois and Clark weathered blow after editorially-sanctioned blow, yet somehow weathered the storm. And now it’s gone, and whilst it will be missed, it can only be hoped that if and when a relationship between these two is returned to the books, it will be allowed to grow and strengthen rather than suffer repeated attempts to undermine and dissolve it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hi.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m Steve, and I’m a Lois and Clark shipper.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b> This weekend (ish) sees us hit up another issue of Superman, featuring the much-heralded Superman/Mummy confrontation. And join me midweek-ish for a look at number 4 on both lists.<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-59024340214338717072011-10-18T18:00:00.000+01:002011-10-18T18:00:05.494+01:00Adventures of Superman #428<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Have you seen that new button at the top of the sidebar? That marks me as an official competitor in the MCM/Blogomatic 3000 Battle of the Bloggers that will be taking place at the end of the month at the MCM Expo. I have no idea what to expect, but with such an event taking place on my doorstep, how could I not take part? Click the button for further information, and expect a write-up of the event a few days after it has happened. If you're coming to the Expo, then swing by the event and cheer me on!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29341_20060307120357_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29341_20060307120357_large.jpg" width="130" /></a><b><u>Personal Best</u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Writer: Marv Wolfman<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Artist: Jerry Ordway<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Letterer: John Costanza<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Editors: Andy Helfer and Mike Carlin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Art: Jerry Ordway</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Date: May 1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Release Date: 19/02/1987</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Three days after his ‘meeting’ with President Marlo, Superman launches a further assault on Qurac’s military forces, decimating its air force and assaulting its navy with one of its own submarines. Superman holds a televised meeting with Marlo, again warning him over harbouring terrorists. Clark and Cat Grant watch television coverage of Superman’s recent attacks, flirting throughout. Their fun is interrupted by Perry White’s appearance on television to publically condemn reputed mobster and city councilman Jay Falk, as he had been instrumental in investigating and exposing him.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hv4YkFeTp1w/Tp1-CNf2qpI/AAAAAAAAAZo/aCVk_IooJ-0/s1600/2011-10-18.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hv4YkFeTp1w/Tp1-CNf2qpI/AAAAAAAAAZo/aCVk_IooJ-0/s200/2011-10-18.2.JPG" width="188" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Elsewhere in Metropolis, Jerry White, Perry White’s son, tells Jose XXXX that he is ready to quit his street gang. As he reflects on his volatile relationship with his father, his former gang attacks him for planning to quit. As the beat him up, mobsters arrive, breaking up the fight and kidnapping the unconscious Jerry. The crooks contact Perry and demand that he kills his expose on Falk. Perry clears his office, before storming out of the Planet building.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Later that night, Falk throws a party. Superman arrives to confront Falk, demanding to know where Jerry is. Getting nowhere, Superman drags one of Falk’s ‘bodyguards’ to the roof of the Daily Planet, threatening to leave him stranded atop the globe if he doesn’t get the location of Jerry from him. The terrified goon agrees to talk.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy8DiFHEbgA/Tp1-DFiZWmI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/LxJE1YXojEs/s1600/2011-10-18.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy8DiFHEbgA/Tp1-DFiZWmI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/LxJE1YXojEs/s200/2011-10-18.4.JPG" width="84" /></a><i>Later on, in the Ace of Clubs bar, Superman asks for the location of mobster Louie Lyppe. Taking offence at his style, Bibbo Bibowski thumps him in the stomach, injuring his hand. The rest of the barflies clam up, but as Superman makes to leave, Bibbo offers to buy him a beer.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>At home, Perry White is unable to write his expose on Falk, wracked with worry for Jerry. Alice tries to calm him. The two briefly argue about whether Perry should abandon his journalistic principles to save his son.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Returning home, Louie Lyppe is surprised in his apartment by Bibbo. Bibbo intimidates Louie into giving up the location of Jerry. Bibbo then reveals himself as a disguised Superman, threatening to tell Lyppe’s boss about Louie’s betrayal if anything should happen to Bibbo in retribution for his subterfuge. As Perry settles down to retract his story, Superman breaks into the warehouse where Jerry is being held. A mobster holds a gun to the restrained Jerry’s head. Superman uses his heat vision to set the mobster’s pants on fire, before using his super-breath to extinguish the flames and incapacitate the mobster.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman returns Jerry to his family. Jerry and Perry argue about Perry taking so long to take action to save his son. As Superman looks on, the two row, before Jerry storms out.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyAl-dscajU/Tp1-Bt-EW7I/AAAAAAAAAZg/5hfFcJbiYM8/s1600/2011-10-18.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyAl-dscajU/Tp1-Bt-EW7I/AAAAAAAAAZg/5hfFcJbiYM8/s320/2011-10-18.1.JPG" width="320" /></a>The last issue of Adventures of Superman eschewed the action scenes (after a few pages) for some mind-bending explorations of what Superman means to different elements of his life. This issue brings back the action, opening with one of most dynamic and ferocious scenes of Superman’s might. Superman’s previous assault on Qurac is merely a warm-up for this sustained assault, decimating its armed forces in the space of three pages. This is real balls-to-the-wall action, the standout being the moment when Superman sinks a battleship by bursting through its hull with a submarine. I was debating the merits of Superman Returns a few nights ago, and one of the points I made was that the plane-crash was a sequence that could only occur in a Superman film, Iron man, the X-Men, Captain America and Batman just don’t have the sheer force and combination of powers required to save that plane. The same can be said of Superman’s actions here. Only Superman (or heroes blatantly modelled on him) could use a submarine to sink a ship. I also love that this scene is only a third of the double-spread. I can’t help but think that if this scene was published today, that one panel would take up an entire double-spread (although it would look absolutely glorious).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Later on in the issue, Superman has to play detective to track down Jerry White. One could ask why he doesn’t just do what he’ll do in an upcoming issue of Superman and use his x-ray vision to scan Metropolis, but if he had done so then we wouldn’t have had Superman doing his best-ever Batman impersonation. Superman’s investigations are superb. He forces – and blunders – his way throughout Metropolis from the heights to the dregs of society. I particularly like his not-so-subtle confrontation with Falk, casually destroying a work of art before denouncing it as a fake, making the councilman sweat with every artefact he touches. Straight after, Superman’s Batman impressions comes to the fore as he drags a henchman to the top of the Daily Planet globe, toying with his fear to get the response he needs. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YQH8RxVg_3c/Tp1-CjZbRFI/AAAAAAAAAZw/BspTlpNw24U/s1600/2011-10-18.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YQH8RxVg_3c/Tp1-CjZbRFI/AAAAAAAAAZw/BspTlpNw24U/s200/2011-10-18.3.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wolfman’s writing in this scene – and this issue in general – is excellent, and there’s a moment in this scene where Superman flies away from the henchman, making him think that he’s been abandoned in the skyline. The art shows Superman making a loop back around, and when he returns, he says: “Hi, miss me? I had to rescue a cat from a fire”. In this one line, Superman establishes exactly where the hoodlum sits in the pecking order, and that Superman’s attention regarding him is short and fickle, so he’d better start talking immediately. Of course, the thug is too stupid to ‘fess up. Superman’s next lines – click the image to enlarge – are hilarious.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This issue sees the first appearances of three characters that would form part of the Superman family for the next few years: Jerry White, Jose Delgado and Bibbo Bibbowski. When you consider that this title has also introduced Emil Hamilton and Cat Grant, it seems clear that if Action Comics is the team-up book, and Superman is the flagship title, then Adventures of Superman seems to be primarily concerned with world-building. With the exception of last week’s issue (and, of course, the Apokolips-set Legends crossover), each issue has provided depth and development for Metropolis and Superman’s supporting cast. Here, Perry White takes a feature role for the first time, and we take our first trip into Suicide Slum. This Metropolis has depth and diversity, a more textured and real city than that which we’ve seen in the Superman comics for the past few years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTf3oX9PVjQ/Tp1-Edu0kqI/AAAAAAAAAaI/VRso-OSJ1XI/s1600/2011-10-18.6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTf3oX9PVjQ/Tp1-Edu0kqI/AAAAAAAAAaI/VRso-OSJ1XI/s200/2011-10-18.6.JPG" width="200" /></a>Overall, this is a fantastically strong and enjoyable issue. Whilst the story of the Circle outstays its welcome by the end, Wolfman’s slice-of-life story in Metropolis is incredibly strong, and his use of Superman throughout the issue, adopting different strategies to track down Jerry, is highly notable. Ordway’s art is also superb. He informs the anguish of Perry’s struggles with his journalistic morality with skill, his action sequences are fantastically well-drawn, and his depiction of Superman-as-Bibbo is delightfully ambiguous, making great use of shadow to convey the deception.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Geeky Bits:&nbsp;</b>This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol. 3 and is covered on <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_007.mp3">episode&nbsp;7</a>&nbsp;of From Crisis To Crisis.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b> Work allowing, midweek will see the posting of the next instalment of my looks back at what I will and won’t be missing in the relaunched DC Universe, whilst next weekend will finally see Superman confronting the mummy!<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-30634032126470882962011-10-14T12:07:00.000+01:002011-10-14T12:07:19.665+01:00Goodbye, Hello: Part 2<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Welcome back to the list of things I will and won’t miss about Superman in the New 52. After last week’s looks at the various origins for Superman, this week, I’ll be focusing on two important parts of Superman’s extended family.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The Second Thing I’m Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52:<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.wikia.com/superman/images/a/af/Ma_PaKent01.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://images.wikia.com/superman/images/a/af/Ma_PaKent01.PNG" width="141" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Ma and Pa Kent<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve never really understood why Superman needs to have lost one or both of his parents. My first introduction to Superman’s parents was through the series Lois and Clark (or The New Adventures of Superman, as it was titled in the UK). Whilst there was a large element of comic relief to their role in the series, they were a valuable part of Superman’s support network. They provided Clark with a refuge from Metropolis and being Superman.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJ2_gEO5OkMldAplcBYBdLe0ylcmQKg66ZDMEJ4DAPOG0_wC2Y1Annx8qj4A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJ2_gEO5OkMldAplcBYBdLe0ylcmQKg66ZDMEJ4DAPOG0_wC2Y1Annx8qj4A" width="161" /></a>When I first discovered that the Kents were not traditionally a huge part of Superman’s adult life, I couldn’t understand it. Having a place to go home to seemed so important, and having the Ma and Pa still alive gave Superman a reason to go home to Smallville regularly, allowing for greater variety in Superman’s life and his adventures.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hN0LQqHSJyY/TpgTm2EGuRI/AAAAAAAAAZE/Xy5a3MbkBZ8/s1600/2011-10-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hN0LQqHSJyY/TpgTm2EGuRI/AAAAAAAAAZE/Xy5a3MbkBZ8/s200/2011-10-14.jpg" width="130" /></a>They also added another emotional string to the books. In Superman #75, the page that tugs most on the heartstrings is the one showing Ma and Pa watching Superman in the final throes of his fight with Doomsday, unable to be with their son. It was a very small and human moment amongst the bombast and destruction.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the back of the recent Action Comics #2, a reference was made to Superman being free from his parents as a reason for his hard-edged campaigns in Metropolis early on in his career. Whilst I’m sure this will lead to some interesting stories, I can only think of how this goes against everything we’ve read in the last 25 years, about a Superman whose loving parents helped him to learn to control his powers and to respect life above all else.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The Second Thing I’m Not Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Supergirl<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">(The Kara Zor-El incarnation.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://maidofmight.net/gallery/1056-2/Supergirl_Vol1_Power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://maidofmight.net/gallery/1056-2/Supergirl_Vol1_Power.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Supergirl was a mess. Introduced in a best-selling arc in Superman/Batman, the character’s solo title launched a few months before Infinite Crisis, and boy, it was not good. With Superman fans already upset at the cancellation of the Peter David-written Supergirl series to make way for a confusing and character-less plot device that bore almost no resemblance to anything that could have taken the name ‘Supergirl’ (Yes, Cir-El, I’m looking at you), DC then spectacularly dropped the ball by being unable to provide a purpose or direction for her across well over three years of books.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/3/3c/Supergirl_and_the_LSH_18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/3/3c/Supergirl_and_the_LSH_18.jpg" width="130" /></a>Was she an assassin sent from Krypton to kill Superman? A misguided super-powered teenager trying to cope with an entirely new society? What about being a hero-within-a-hero, protecting the bottle city of Kandor? No? OK, we can try Supergirl as a legend of the 21<sup>st</sup> century marooned in the 31<sup>st</sup>? (Actually, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes was pretty damn good, one of the best uses of the One Year Later device. It was so good that it was barely mentioned again in Supergirl’s core title). What exactly was Superman’s relationship with her? Protecting uncle, concerned elder, or just plain embarrassed by this inconsistent, rebellious teen that burst out from a ship contained in a lump of kryptonite? Constantly rotating creative teams, barely hanging around for an entire story arc didn’t help either.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://readrant.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/supergirl-34-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://readrant.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/supergirl-34-cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t until Sterling Gates arrived on the book that Supergirl actually had something approaching a status quo, a supporting cast and a character. Taking underused elements of Superman’s supporting cast and using them to create a cast for Supergirl was a great move (yes, even Cat Grant, as the explanation for her behaviour, when it came, worked well). Supergirl also had a consistent relationship with Superman and, even better, a relationship-of-sorts with Lois. Best of all, Gates laid to one side the ‘dark Supergirl’ plots and worked hard to bring Supergirl into direct continuity with the core Superman books, continuing in this vein after New Krypton had ended.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, as soon as he was gone, this was all undone. We were back to the rotating creative teams, and in Justice League of America, the dark Supergirl was back.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ruSmyWNNglw/TpgXZmgUu4I/AAAAAAAAAZM/9t5nvbjOGHc/s1600/2011-10-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ruSmyWNNglw/TpgXZmgUu4I/AAAAAAAAAZM/9t5nvbjOGHc/s200/2011-10-14.jpg" width="130" /></a>Supergirl #1 was too much of a setup issue to see which way the new creative team will take the character. I know I never want to see Supergirl in a black costume again, and I don’t want to see a character who is as painfully naïve as she was when she decided she was going to cure cancer. I want to see a strong but flawed character who not only justifies her own existence beyond ‘hey, we need to have Supergirl around’ but also who affects Superman. If the relaunched title can deliver this, then I see no reason why Kara Zor-El can’t become as strong a character as Matrix/Linda was in her own title.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b> A change to our next issue, thanks to an editorial snafu (read: I counted wrong). Instead of seeing Superman fight a giant mummy, we’ll be meeting Jerry White, Jose Garcia and Bibbo Bibbowski for the first time! Hurrah! And next week, we’ll be back for the third instalment in this series of articles. See you then!<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-21351298476913444162011-10-09T20:53:00.000+01:002011-10-09T20:53:01.941+01:00Action Comics #587<br /><div class="MsoNormal">It's a Sunday, which means that it's a Superman day here at World of Superman! For those of you keeping up with my podcast, <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a>, look for that episode to be released late tomorrow as I'm slightly behind with the editing there. Last week's episode is still up, a look at Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #2.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">(Covers only today as I'm short on time.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Enough plugging, enough rambling. We've got us some John Byrne-drawn Etrigan action today. Or have we?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/140/37436_20061112172859_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/140/37436_20061112172859_large.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Cityscape<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Written and Pencilled by John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Embellished by Dick Giordano<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colored by Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lettered by John Costanza<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Edited by Andrew Helfer and Michael Carlin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Art by John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Date: April 1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Jason Blood visits a curiosity shop in Gotham. His friend Glenda picks up a trinket shaped like a futuristic city and accidentally activates a hidden switch. The trinket shoots a spike into her arm, causing crystalline spires to erupt upwards from her body. She transforms into a large spire, then sends out spikes into the other people in the shop, causing them to transform as well. Jason avoids a spike, transforming into Etrigan and causing another spike to shatter against him. The spires continue to grow, bursting through the ceiling and transforming the couple above.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Returning from space, Superman soars over Gotham, musing that it is the first time he has returned to the city since meeting Batman. He sees the spires, growing ever larger in the centre of the city. Taking action, he shatters one of them, but he is tackled by Etrigan. The two fight, with the Demon desperate to keep Superman from harming the spires. As they fight, several more spires are damaged. Etrigan is able to halt the combat by showing Superman that the shattered spires have blood oozing from them. Realising what has happened, Superman agrees to help. Etrigan quickly conjures a spell to send Superman back in time.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Armed only with a message from Etrigan to seek out Jason Blood, Superman finds himself in 12<sup>th</sup> century England. He quickly locates Blood, who has been expecting Superman. Jason takes Superman underground to a Pool of Knowing to track the source of the trinket. He discovers the location, and Superman flies him there. Above a humble shack containing an old man and his granddaughter, Blood transforms to Etrigan and wrestles free of Superman’s grasp, falling through the sky and bursting in.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Etrigan attacks the granddaughter, revealing her to be Morgaine le Fey. Fey traps Superman in a cage of stone, before preparing to weave her master spell that will result in the trinket, which will create a citadel in the future for her to travel to. She possesses the grandfather to use a human hand to craft the spell. Realising that interrupting the spell will avert the future crisis, Superman breaks free from the cage. Despite Etrigan’s warnings that his actions will cause is death, Superman attack Fey, disrupting and cancelling the spell.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Suddenly, Jason Blood is back in the curiosity shop. Glenda activates the trinket again, but it harmlessly pops open. Another customer looks through the window and sees Superman passing overhead.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Before we get going into this one, let’s just be very clear about one point. Superman’s action in the past, interrupting Morgaine le Fey’s<span>&nbsp; </span>spell, nullifies the future where the trinket grows into an entire city. Because this future never existed, Superman never travelled into the past. Therefore, with the exception of the last two pages, this issue never happened. It’s also an interesting statement on how time-travel works in the DC Universe. The only reason le Fey doesn’t have her citadel overrule Gotham is because Superman travels back in time to stop this. But without the emergence of the citadel, Superman never participated in the events that caused le Fey’s plan to fail, meaning that logically, her citadel should once again appear until Superman prevents it. Of course, logic rarely applies to time-travel, and for simplicity’s sake, once Superman has definitively prevented the citadel’s emergence, the timeline where le Fey’s plan succeeded simply withered and died, cauterised from causality. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, think of it like this: Superman’s interruption of the spell creates a fixed point in time which determines how time flows from it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Phew!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m not that hot on this issue. I can’t help but feel that the Demon is a wasted guest star. Etrigan is always more interesting when following his own agenda that puts him in conflict with a hero. Here, surprising as it is to see him working with honourable intentions – saving the innocents trapped within le Fey’s citadel – there was little to no personal gain for Etrigan, no hints or suggestions that he’s being anything other than totally altruistic. It’s very contrary to what I expect as a reader, and to me, it feels like the Demon was used because Byrne needed a character who could exist in the past and the present, rather than because there was a story that needed this character to tell.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I also have to wonder why Superman prolongs the climactic battle with le Fey. It’s established towards the end of the battle that Superman is able to break free of the stone prison because whislt magic is used to construct the prison, the prison itself is not magical. If that’s true, why does Superman spend a page and a half loitering in it watching the grandfather get put through unimaginable pain? Again, things are happening because the story demands that it does, rather than for a logical reason.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At this point in the super-books, Action Comics is definitely the weakest of the three titles, but still a good read. This, however, is the first issue that just feels average rather than of a good quality in itself. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>The Fourth World aside, The Demon is probably Jack Kirby’s most notable contribution to the DC Universe. Etrigan is summoned by Merlin and bonded to Jason Blood, a knight of the Round Table. This bonding grants Blood immortality, allowing him to participate in events of the current day. Jason can summon the Demon by reciting a short verse, but will always do so as a last resort. His demonic nature has seen him appear in titles as diverse as JLA and Sandman, as well as multiple attempts at supporting his own series across the years. The most recent ongoing Demon series was Blood of the Demon, written and pencilled by John Byrne, running from 2005-2006. In the new 52, Etrigan can be found as a member of Paul Cornell’s Demon Knights.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Action Comics #587 was collected in The Man Of Steel vol. 3, and coverage of this issue can be found in <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_006.mp3">episode 6 of From Crisis To Crisis.</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b>&nbsp;Midweek sees us take a look at the next things I will and won't miss in the New 52, whilst next weekend has us back at our post-Crisis reviews when we take a look at Superman vs The Mummy, with no sign of Rachel Weisz!<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-83998108499187879392011-10-06T18:39:00.000+01:002011-10-06T18:39:52.000+01:00Goodbye, Hello: Part One<i>Let's be clear here: This is not a fill-in post because I haven't yet written anything for the next issue. Against all expectations (including mine!) I'm three issues ahead, eager to build a backlog of material before my awful retail-career eats up my life at some point in the next three months!</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />So, I don't know if you've heard, but DC have been having some changes lately. And by some changes, I mean throwing everything out of the window (unless you're Batman or a Green Lantern) and starting again from scratch. Being fans of Superman, we're pretty accustomed to this, having had, on average, a new origin or retelling every two years for the past decade. However, unlike those, this one is total and absolute, wiping out everything that has come before (including record breaking numbering) and starting fresh and anew.<br /><br />So, as the second month of the relaunch kicks into gear (I've just finished reading Action Comics #2, and don't get me started on the story finishing just over halfway through the issue), I think that it's an appropriate moment to mourn the passing of five things that have made the last 25 years worth of Superman such a great read. Oh, and because it was never all great, we'll also wave goodbye to five turds that are finally being flushed into the sewers of hypertime.<br /><br />So, without further ado, let's start at the very beginning,<br /><br />Literally.<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The First Thing I’m Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>The Man Of Steel<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Pictures/Man_of_Steel_TPB_1A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Pictures/Man_of_Steel_TPB_1A.jpg" width="209" /></a><u><br /></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think, considering the raison d’etre for this blog, you could probably have guessed this one. For nearly 20 years, these six issues were the seed from which Superman and his comics grew. So much of what is now accepted as the standard Superman status quo was established here, from the Last Son of Krypton (no exceptions) to Superman’s shaky relationships with other heroes. But most of all, coming from an idea by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne gave us the ruthless businessman Lex Luthor, as seen in Smallville, Lois and Clark, and Superman: The Animated Series.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The structure of the series took us from before Kal-El’s birth to six years into his career when he discovered his origins. The statement at the very end of the series, where Superman reconciles his Kryptonian birth with his human upbringings is the most succinct and accurate summation of who Superman is. For years afterwards, writers would intertwine their stories involving Superman’s youth with these six issues. And whilst the name may have come from a Batman story, some of the most successful 1995 Year One annuals were carefully structured to occur in an around the events of this series.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSXYE4d72RA/TiQob-q080I/AAAAAAAAUD4/hfqtYTBSTYE/s400/supes1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSXYE4d72RA/TiQob-q080I/AAAAAAAAUD4/hfqtYTBSTYE/s200/supes1.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">As we’ll see below, the strength of the writing and the iconic nature of what was presented within was such that it took three attempts over nearly 10 years to establish a new origin for Superman, and not long after that series was completed, DC hit the big red button and started everything all over again. Officially, the Superman in Action Comics #904 and Superman #714 came from Secret Origin, but for most of us, he was the same person who landed the space-plane, who fought Bizarro and unexpectedly restored Lucy Lane’s sight, and who brought public embarrassment upon Lex Luthor when he frogmarched him to a police cell. He was our Superman, and we’ll miss him.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>The First Thing I’m Not Going To Miss About Superman In The New 52<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><br /></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E9c80sjPgbA/TfLRLUkp9WI/AAAAAAAAAsI/limxEcvZxOo/s320/Superman-Birthright-Cover1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E9c80sjPgbA/TfLRLUkp9WI/AAAAAAAAAsI/limxEcvZxOo/s320/Superman-Birthright-Cover1.jpg" /></a><u>Birthright's Canonicity</u><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Let’s be clear on one thing before we get going, as it’ll be many years before this appears in the blog. Birthright was not a bad series at all. In fact, faked-Kryptonian attack aside, it was pretty good. Mark Waid eschewed much of what is considered to be normal for a Superman origin story – Krypton’s destruction, growing up in Smallville, etc. – opting instead to start with Clark trying to make his way in the world, and bringing these elements in as the story progressed. Leinil Yu’s artwork was also noteworthy, strengthening as the series progressed and his style asserted itself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">No, what I have an issue with is DC’s reluctance to take a stand on wether or not we were reading the official new origin for Superman, even for years after the series had wrapped up.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you were reading Superman comics at the time, then you’ll remember that it wasn’t until after the series had begun that DC first began talking about Birthright as a replacement origin for The Man of Steel. But they decided to be uncertain about this, stopping short of definitively stating this fact, despite elements of Birthright starting to appear in the comics. As Superman vol. 2 rolled towards #200, noise was made about the anniversary issue making a firm statement as to Birthright’s canonicity. At the end of that issue, following a fight with Braniac, Superman found himself journeying back to reality, but got distracted along the way when he saw Krypton. This was the moment that things changed, but the issue stopped short of saying that he was now attached to a new origin. Only the meagre back-matter, highlighting some of Leinil Yu’s Birthright designs, mentioned the series by name.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SWcXxYPqxGI/TLqic-LLjuI/AAAAAAAAEDo/D1S5hzCecoo/s320/superman_birthright_03+(WinCE).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SWcXxYPqxGI/TLqic-LLjuI/AAAAAAAAEDo/D1S5hzCecoo/s200/superman_birthright_03+(WinCE).jpg" width="128" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">As a result, readers were left to wonder as to which origin would stand. The next two story arcs, Strange New Visitor and Godfall, wouldn’t involve the origin at all, and the next set of creative teams on the titles would again craft stories that took Superman forward, not looking back. Even when the multiverse returned and New Earth was formed, hints were given as to a new origin, but it took nearly four years for that origin to be presented to the readers.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There are plenty of things to argue about with Superman, but arguing which origin applies to him from 2003 onwards is an argument we shouldn’t have had to have. I’m very happy to finally not have this be an issue, and whatever changes come to Superman’s origin in the new 52, my only wish is that there is consistency.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b>&nbsp;Come back Sunday for the continuing coverage of the post-Crisis Superman's life, and at some point in the middle of next week, we'll be taking a look at number two on both lists.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And don't forget to check out the latest episode of the <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a>, taking a look at <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/20-minute-longbox-1-10-superman-shazam-first-thunder-2">Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #2!</a></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-10083920246371852432011-10-02T12:14:00.000+01:002011-10-02T12:14:44.571+01:00Adventures of Superman #427<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Hello there. Whew, it’s dark in here. Where’s the light switch? Ah, got it. Close your eyes, I’m turning the lights on… now.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hello, it’s been a while!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m not going to insult you with long tales of woe describing many reasons why I’ve not been active over here. There’s a very simple reason for the lack of activity on this blog. For two months, I’ve not felt like writing about Superman. I’ve been having a great time working on my podcast, <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a> (itself suffering from a lack of time to put an episode together), and for a while, I toyed with the idea of shutting the door on this blog and letting the dust gather.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, why did I change my mind? Put simply, I’ve been missing Superman. With new blood and, indeed, a new Superman hitting the stands as part of the New 52, I’ve been feeling strongly about the Man of Steel again. More than ever, a project like this seems like something worth doing, celebrating the comics that made many of us Superman fans at a time when, hopefully, many people are finding similar things to celebrate in the new Superman. Oh, and I miss arguing with myself over which order to do the comics in!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d like to think that this is a return to regular posting, but if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that this isn’t a promise that I can keep. The best way to keep up to date with happenings over here is to subscribe, either through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs, both of which are over on the sidebar. That way, if I have another absence (hint: I work in retail and Christmas is a-coming), you’ll know when I pick up this project again. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Enough procrastination. If you’ll join me, I’d like to take you on a journey to Qurac.<o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29340_20060307120321_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29340_20060307120321_large.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u>Mind Games<o:p></o:p></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Brought to you by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lettered by John Costanza<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colored by Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Edited by Andy Helfer and Mike Carlin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Art: Jerry Ordway<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Date: April 1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Release Date: 15/01/1987</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-elMT1chVMaE/TohGFu_DXsI/AAAAAAAAAYs/MLU40th62BM/s1600/2011-10-02.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-elMT1chVMaE/TohGFu_DXsI/AAAAAAAAAYs/MLU40th62BM/s200/2011-10-02.1.JPG" width="198" /></a><i>Superman invade Quraci airspace, attacking Quraci defences. He fights his way to the palace of President Marlo, bursting in and confronting the dictator. He accuses Marlo of orchestrating the recent attacks on Metropolis, but the dictator denies this, suggesting that rogue elements in his country are responsible. Superman demands information, but suddenly collapses as a result of a psychic attack from Prana, a feline-looking member of a mysterious group called The Circle. Prana falls to his knees, his mind connected with Superman’s.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman sees a vision of his parents on Krypton, instructing him to conquer and rule the Earth. Superman attempts rejects this, causing psychic feedback to Prana, who carries on with the illusion. The two battle further with their minds, before Prana retreats. A drained Superman leaves the palace, confused by the vision of his parents and their oppressive instructions. He returns to the hotel he’s using as Clark Kent and falls asleep, allowing Prana to re-establish contact with him.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QmCK-0vcekg/TohGG2BYwEI/AAAAAAAAAY4/JeLiD3YuQFY/s1600/2011-10-02.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="195" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QmCK-0vcekg/TohGG2BYwEI/AAAAAAAAAY4/JeLiD3YuQFY/s200/2011-10-02.4.JPG" width="200" /></i></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman awakes in costume, confronted by Bizarro, Metallo, Synapse and Lex Luthor. The villains attack him, demanding to know his true motives, whilst Luthor works to undermine Superman’s confidence. Superman fights back, denying Lex’s words and dispelling the illusions again. Prana is once again weakened and pained by the contact, but he has become determined to mentally defeat Superman. As Clark takes a shower to recover, Prana once again makes contact.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5OlHT_WM9iI/TohGHjWmI1I/AAAAAAAAAZA/n0xa2Pab5LE/s1600/2011-10-02.6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5OlHT_WM9iI/TohGHjWmI1I/AAAAAAAAAZA/n0xa2Pab5LE/s200/2011-10-02.6.JPG" width="111" /></i></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman finds himself in Japan, where a Godzilla-esque monster is attacking a city. Refusing to be bowed, Superman quickly defeats the monster, shrugging off Prana’s attack. Prana, weakened by the final assault, dies in the sewers beneath Qurac. His wife, Zahara, steals his powers and combines them with her own, launching one final assault. Superman is confronted by Lana, Lois and Cat, all of whom accuse him of being fickle with his love and lying to them about his origins. Superman is able to withstand this assault, and drifts into a restless sleep. In the sewers, other members of the Circle find Prana’s corpse and Zahara’s unconscious body.</i></div><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is a different and interesting issue of Adventures of Superman. Initially continuing the story of the assault on Metropolis, the issues turns into something else, taking some interesting turns and leading us in a far more character-driven direction than the awesomely action-filled cover would suggest.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mk18_xqBoso/TohGHVx4TsI/AAAAAAAAAY8/orOEuVa3YsE/s1600/2011-10-02.5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mk18_xqBoso/TohGHVx4TsI/AAAAAAAAAY8/orOEuVa3YsE/s200/2011-10-02.5.JPG" width="85" /></a>Prana and Zahara assault Superman’s psyche from four different and relevant angles – his heritage, his villains, force of nature, and his women. I find it amazing that so early on in the life of the post-Crisis Superman, Marv Wolfman lays out the four origins of almost every Superman story. Whilst the vision of Lara and Jor-El and Lex’s gang of villains contain accusations that are easily rejected, the accusations of Lois, Lana and Cat strike much closer to home. Superman does lie to those he loves. At this stage in his life, with Lana not-quite behind him and with Lois and Cat as potential partners, he is fickle with his affections. Frankly, this is a far more realistic and chilling potential outcome of Clark’s alien nature than we saw in Action Comics #794.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Superman taking overt action against a foreign state is a big moment. We saw in The Dark Knight Returns a potential future where Superman is a weapon for the United States Government, covertly assaulting America’s enemies, the fear of his intrusion being as great as the his presence. In his run on Adventures of Superman, Greg Rucka would use the concept of what Superman’s presence in a war-zone would do to the conflict as the driving force behind his story. It’s great to see the sheer power of Superman unleashed against an army, something we’ve not really seen before, and the callous nature of his entrance into the palace, smashing down the doors with a casual flick of his finger, hints at a darker side to his rage that is manipulated by Prana. Thankfully, Qurac would remain in the comics through this run and beyond, and the consequences of Superman’s actions here would be felt in future issues.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j1Hft6ku3wA/TohGGYpjzwI/AAAAAAAAAY0/hVfkqvulXE0/s1600/2011-10-02.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j1Hft6ku3wA/TohGGYpjzwI/AAAAAAAAAY0/hVfkqvulXE0/s200/2011-10-02.3.JPG" width="200" /></a>As normal, Jerry Ordway’s art is great. The cover is one of the early favourites, and his renditions of Prana’s attacks are just otherworldly enough whilst remaining grounded. I particularly like how he draws the illusion of Krypton, with Zahara and the sewers breaking through into the illusion. Even the panel borders reflect this, become much rougher and unfinished. Once the assaults start, Superman appears shaken and disturbed, pale and sweating, and thin in the face. Although it’s Prana who ultimately dies, Superman is taking a toll from the battle and it’s showing on his face throughout the night.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pmmhj73mcQg/TohGGM-RpdI/AAAAAAAAAYw/CECtYwckgCE/s1600/2011-10-02.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pmmhj73mcQg/TohGGM-RpdI/AAAAAAAAAYw/CECtYwckgCE/s200/2011-10-02.2.JPG" width="197" /></a><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>Qurac was for many years the fictional middle-eastern state used by DC whenever they needed a stand in for countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, that is, a state that supports or condones terrorism and an anti-West stance. It's no coincidence that President Marlo bears more than a passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein. The country once named the Joker as an ambassador, although this was a retcon as in the original storyline, it was Iran. Cheshire once decimated the country with a nuclear weapon. Over the years, more fictional middle-eastern territories, including Bialya, Khandaq and Umec would appear to give more texture to this region in the DC universe.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If, like me, you're wondering who the guy in the orange armour in the villains hallucination is, then you'll be pleased to hear that according to <a href="http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=29340">comicbookdb.com</a>&nbsp;his name is Synapse, and his only other appearances were in three issues of Extreme Justice in 1995. And now you know!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol. 3 in 2004.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Coverage of this issue can be found in <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_006.mp3">Episode 6 of From Crisis To Crisis</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman: </b>Superman goes a-time-travelling.<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-32766632755598945952011-08-08T10:44:00.000+01:002011-08-08T10:44:51.038+01:0012 Hour PodcastJust a quick note to say that I'm currently working on the next episode of the 20 Minute Longbox in a very different way. Having done nothing for it before this morning, I've set myself the challenge to create the entire episode from scratch within 12 hours, including reading the issue, writing the synopsis, the commentary, the 52 Relaunch Roulette, recording the episode, editing it and uploading it. I started at 10am this morning, and am 45 minutes into the challenge.<br /><br />I'm keeping a commentary and updates rolling on twitter. I'm @quizlacey, and I'm using the hashtag #12hourpodcast.Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-70360784329521163862011-07-31T12:56:00.001+01:002011-07-31T13:04:41.644+01:00Superman #4<div class="MsoNormal">It's been a quiet couple of weeks here at the World of Superman. It should have been a bit of a shorter gap between posts, but my free copy of Microsoft Word Starter Edition froze whilst I was writing this post and destroyed most of what I had written. Two short but very enjoyable holidays followed, so now I'm ready to get a new post written.<br /><br />Please don't forget to check out my podcast, <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">20 Minute Longbox</a>, the compressed podcast for the decompressed, wait-for-trade age (yes, I'm trying this as the strapline for the show). The latest episode looking at Guy Gardner #5 and Justice League #1 went live a few days ago, and the next episode will be up just as soon as I've got it ready, hopefully tonight or tomorrow night at the latest.<br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/140/1866_20061112191910_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/140/1866_20061112191910_large.jpg" width="129" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Bloodsport</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Writer/Penciller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Inker: Karl Kesel<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colorist: Anthony Tollin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Letterer: John Costanza<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Editors: Andy Helfer, Mike Carlin<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Artist: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Cover Date: April 1987<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Release Date: 08/01/1987</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Lucy Lane and Jimmy Olsen share lunch in a shopping mall. Jimmy is trying to persuade Lucy to snoop around for dodgy dealings at her employer, Intercontinental Airlines, but their lunch is interrupted by a loud cry of ‘FOOLS!’. Jimmy pulls Lucy down as a hail of bullets bursts through the window, striking several members of the public. Bloodsport, a gun-wielding, bandann-wearing muscleman, yells about abuse of freedoms before speeding away on a motorbike. Jimmy activates his signal watch, calling down Superman.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zdHXShw9Q2s/TjU-7omOuQI/AAAAAAAAAYU/VrD5c2U6JOM/s1600/2011-07-30.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zdHXShw9Q2s/TjU-7omOuQI/AAAAAAAAAYU/VrD5c2U6JOM/s200/2011-07-30.2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Landing, Superman is met by Maggie Sawyer, who walks him through the crime scene. Realising that Bloodsport’s cries to clean up Metropolis mean that he will strike again, Superman goes on the hunt. Using his infrared vision, Superman picks up the heat trace of Bloodsport’s bike, and follows his trail through the city. Watching his pal fly away, Jimmy jumps into his car to give chase, but a flat battery means that he has to grab his police scanner and continue on foot. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>At a bowling alley, Bloodsport is busy shooting up the place when Superman arrives. Bloodsport grabs a hostage and puts his gun against his head, forcing the two into a stand off. Superman breaks the situation by grabbing the gun faster than the bullet can travel down the barrel after Bloodsport fires. With Bloodsport apprehended, Superman is surprised when he materialises a new weapon in his hand, firing a kryptonite needle in Superman’s shoulder. Bloodsport is about to take a headshot when Jimmy arrives, brandishing one of Bloodsport’s weapons. Bloodsport throws a smoke pellet and makes his escape.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Recovering after surgery in hospital, Superman vows to catch Bloodsport, and the fact that he has access to kryptonite has revealed who is funding and providing technology to him. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>At LexCorp, Luthor demands to know what has happened and why Bloodsport isn’t being effectively controlled. The scientist Kimberly explains that Bloodsport’s fragile psyche has caused him to target civilian rather than Superman. Luthor order’s Bloodsport’s termination.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2olISxOpYN4/TjU-9NgjspI/AAAAAAAAAYg/l8Uehw8ZtmA/s1600/2011-07-30.5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2olISxOpYN4/TjU-9NgjspI/AAAAAAAAAYg/l8Uehw8ZtmA/s200/2011-07-30.5.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman locates Bloodsport. The two face off, with Bloodsport conjuring larger and more powerful weapons to keep Superman at bay. As the destruction and chaos mounts, Bloodsport is suddenly hit by a blast. A tank and hazmat-suited soldiers from LexCorp have arrived, drawing Bloodsport’s attention. As he switches weapons, Superman realises that he is actually teleporting the guns in from another location. He ionises the air around Bloodsport, causing his teleport to malfunction and his weapons to disintegrate. Finally able to safely get in close, Superman disables Bloodsport, who reveals that he is holding a dead man’s switch that will detonate his power supply. Suddenly, a parapalegic arrives, using Bloodsport’s real name of Bobby, begging him not to kill himself. The new arrival is Mickey, Bobby’s brother, brought in by Jimmy Olsen. The arrival of his brother breaks through Bloodsport’s delusions and conditioning, halting his rampage. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rTt44PDJe7o/TjU-9k_y7qI/AAAAAAAAAYk/7xfOUjU-5-A/s1600/2011-07-30.6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rTt44PDJe7o/TjU-9k_y7qI/AAAAAAAAAYk/7xfOUjU-5-A/s200/2011-07-30.6.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Jimmy tells Superman that Bobby was never a soldier in Vietnam, having run away to Canada when his number came up as he was afraid to go and fight. Mickey pretended to be him and replaced him in the army, but had his arms and legs blown off. The guilt put caused Bobby to suffer delusions, resulting in several stays in psychiatric hospitals, before he disappeared just before Bloodsport arrived on the scene. The issue ends with a dedication to the names on the Black Wall and those who remember them.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is a strong issue of Superman from this era. Bloodsport is a strong one-off villain, there’s some great interaction amongst the supporting cast, Lex Luthor is behind the scenes, pulling the strings, Superman uses his powers intelligently to resolve the conflict, whilst a true resolution comes from the actions of a supporting character.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oomHQU3wKjw/TjU-8rTlNuI/AAAAAAAAAYc/EPOepvVB-oQ/s1600/2011-07-30.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oomHQU3wKjw/TjU-8rTlNuI/AAAAAAAAAYc/EPOepvVB-oQ/s200/2011-07-30.4.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">As much as Superman is the focus for Bloodsport’s rage throughout this issue, it is really Jimmy Olsen’s story. We find out for the first time that he is in a relationship with Lois’s sister, Lucy, and that they have been together for a couple of years. It’s not the happiest of relationships, with Lucy angry that Jimmy wants her to compromise her job with Continental Airlines to feed him information, based on little more than a hunch on Jimmy’s part. Jimmy performs the first rescue of the issue, pulling Lucy out of the way of the hail of bullets that rip through the rest of the patrons of the mall, and brings Superman into the situation through a responsible use of his signal watch. Later on, it’s Jimmy who distracts Bloodsport enough to rescue Superman and get him to the hospital, and most notably of all, it’s Jimmy who takes note of Bloodsport’s rantings and does the legwork to peacefully resolve the situation. It's no wonder that DC resurrected the 'Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen' strapline for this issue, and should DC ever collect a ‘Jimmy Olsen: Greatest Stories Ever Told’ trade paperback, I would fully expect this issue to be included.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But whilst Jimmy is working behind the scenes, Superman is front and centre, utilising the full range of his powers in surprising and interesting ways. I’ll quickly brush over the use of infrared vision to track the heat-trail of a bike and its rider throughout&nbsp; a busy city. There are so many things that would obscure a heat signature, from a powerful exhaust fume, to a hot dog vendor, to those lovely heat-venting manhole covers, and I’m glad that this particular power usage is rarely, if ever, seen again. More interestingly is the way that Superman uses his heat-vision to disrupt Bloodsport’s teleportation device. Rather than directly attack the source of the teleport, Superman uses a minor side-effect of his heat-vision to short it out. I also like how Superman's body behaves during surgery. Once the kryptonite is removed, his invulnerability returns and the doctors are unable to stitch him up, so they have to re-expose him to the kryptonite in order to finish their job. It's a small touch, but one that highlights an integrity and consistency with Superman's powers.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsY6ewuGJHg/TjU-8FuSItI/AAAAAAAAAYY/o2BGXvfVUFI/s1600/2011-07-30.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsY6ewuGJHg/TjU-8FuSItI/AAAAAAAAAYY/o2BGXvfVUFI/s200/2011-07-30.3.JPG" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Most impressive of all is the way that John Byrne presents the use of Superman’s speed during the stand-off at the bowling alley. The entirety of page 8 is a fantastically-constructed series of silent panels devoted to the moment that Bloodsport and Superman face each other down with the life of a civilian hanging in the balance. It starts with a short, wide panel showing the distance between the two, before moving into close-ups of the faces, then of the weapons – the gun and Superman’s feet – before hitting slow-motion with the pulling of the trigger and the moving of the firing pin. Finally, Superman moves in, grabbing the gun and moving it away before the bullet travels the length of the barrel. It’s a brilliantly composed and paced homage to cinematic standoffs, that could easily be read whilst the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly plays in the background.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgyaciSsY-c/TjU-7BLATwI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/r_rtu4Rq5vw/s1600/2011-07-30.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgyaciSsY-c/TjU-7BLATwI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/r_rtu4Rq5vw/s200/2011-07-30.1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Page 8 is a merely a highlight in a superb issue of art from John Byrne. There’s a real sense of sudden and pointless brutality to the panel where Bloodsport’s bullets cut through the crowds at the shopping mall. For some reason, the inclusion of a priest amongst the victims just makes the violence worse. I’m a big fan of the panel at the bottom of page 4 where Superman views the bodies of Bloodsport’s victims, in which his shocked face, shaking with shock, is the only thing in in a large, white panel, and the rage in Superman’s face when he flies off to track Bloodsport is chilling.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If there’s anything about this issue that doesn’t work, it’s that the story seems to stop two pages before it should do. The final page is the exposition page, where Jimmy reveals the story of Robert and Michael DuBois. There’s no sense of closure to the story, no mention of what will happen to Bloodsport, whether it be jail or psychiatric care, and even Lex Luthor seems to get away with his involvement in the rampage. It’s a small but important flaw in the issue, and it’s a shame that – dedication aside – the issue didn’t have a stronger sense of conclusion.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Geeky Bits:</b> The Robert DuBois Bloodsport wouldn’t appear again for 8 years, when he would be forced into a boxing match with another Bloodsport, this one a fanatical racist, by his prison wardens. In the aftermath of the boxing match, DuBois would be shot and killed whilst attempting escape.<o:p></o:p><br /><br />This issue was collected in The Man of Steel volume 3, the trade paperback collections covering the first year-or-so of this era of Superman, from a few years ago. This issue was covered on <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_006.mp3">episode 6 of From Crisis to Crisis.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Next on World of Superman: </b>Clark Kent goes to Qurac and has some bad dreams.</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-20478258071694913452011-07-16T22:02:00.001+01:002011-07-16T22:48:03.423+01:00Legends #6<div class="MsoNormal">Hey all, not much to say by the way of an introduction, save to point out that my podcast, <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/webpage">20 Minute Longbox</a>, is out there, awaiting your ears. Go check it out after we wrap up our coverage of Legends!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39481_20060523130515_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39481_20060523130515_large.jpg" width="130" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Finale!</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plotter: John Ostrander<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scripter: Len Wein<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Penciller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inkers: Karl Kesel, Dennis Janke<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Letterer: Steve Haynie<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Colorist: Carl Gafford<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Editor: Mike Gold<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cover Art: John Byrne</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cover Date: April 1987<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Release Date:&nbsp;</b><b>29/01/1987</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPYajjdUB3k/TiH6qbK-9CI/AAAAAAAAAX0/IZVtuSdIyvE/s1600/2011.07.16.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPYajjdUB3k/TiH6qbK-9CI/AAAAAAAAAX0/IZVtuSdIyvE/s200/2011.07.16.1.JPG" width="140" /></a><i>Darkseid relishes his imminent victory, listing to Phantom Stranger the various ways that he has destroyed humanity’s faith in their modern legends. The Stranger warns that Darkseid has overlooked one crucial factor that will lead to his downfall.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>In Washington, Godfrey faces off against Doctor Fate’s heroes, using his PA system to maintain his control over the crowds. Martian Manhunter arrives, despite not being summoned, just as Godfrey orders the warhounds to attack.&nbsp; The heroes use their various powers to remove the controllers from the warhounds, allowing the stronger heroes like Superman to unleash their full powers. As the final warhound hits the ground, Godfrey opens up a boom tube, summoning legions of parademons from Apokolips. Doctor Fate reveals that this is why he brought the various heroes together, charging them with the fate of humanity.&nbsp; As the heroes head off to fight the invasion, Fate turns his attention to the crowds. Seeing his distraction, Godfrey sends in a parademon who wrenches the Helm of Nabu from Doctor Fate, carrying it off into the skies. Unmasked and having lost most of his powers, Kent Nelson flies away to safety.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RUXhd8IOcBU/TiH6r72sNXI/AAAAAAAAAYA/gaztrOOzYG8/s1600/2011.07.16.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RUXhd8IOcBU/TiH6r72sNXI/AAAAAAAAAYA/gaztrOOzYG8/s200/2011.07.16.4.JPG" width="160" /></a><i>Leaving the Lincoln Memorial, Godfrey moves on to where he has captured Captain Boomerang. As Boomerang prepares to tell Godfrey all about Task Force X, Deadshot takes aim with a sniper rifle. Rick Flag disrupts his aim, revealing an alternative plan. The Enchantress steps up, turning the warhounds into Jell-O, sending Godfrey running. Bronze Tiger confronts Godfrey, but falls foul of his mind-controlling powers, letting him go. Boomerang is reunited with Task Force X, and Flag tells him that his televised threats have resulted in him being permanently assigned to the Suicide Squad.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Batman patrols Washington, controlling the rioters and looters. Guy Gardner&nbsp;unleashes his power ring on the warhounds. One warhound terrorising innocent civilians suddenly finds confronted by Wonder Woman, who has decided that she cannot remain concealed from the world whilst innocents are in danger. Gardner is impressed with Wonder Woman’s powers, and the two continue to battle.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Several of Godfrey’s troops blast their way into the Oval Office, attacking President Reagan. The President is unharmed by their attack, quickly defeating them, before revealing himself as a disguised Martian Manhunter. As Manhunter moves on to continue the fight, Reagan officially rescinds his executive order, giving all of Earth’s heroes free reign to join the fight. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4slTlpRvZMQ/TiH6q5G-cjI/AAAAAAAAAX4/rwWGeM4Oa7k/s1600/2011.07.16.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4slTlpRvZMQ/TiH6q5G-cjI/AAAAAAAAAX4/rwWGeM4Oa7k/s200/2011.07.16.2.JPG" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>In the skies, Superman and Captain Marvel corral the parademons, whilst Flash, Changeling, Black Canary and Blue Beetle help control the crowds on the ground. They are quickly joined by Batman, Guy Gardner, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate and Superman, and the heroes face off against the controlled mobs. Godfrey arrives with Bronze Tiger, urging the crowds to attack and destroy the humans, watched from afar by a gloating Darkseid. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Suddenly, a gang of children, led by Lisa, burst through the crowds. The children line up in front of the heroes, confronting their parents in the crowds. Robin arrives, imploring the mob to see through Godfrey’s words and see sense. Lisa stands up to Godfrey, who tells her to be quiet and hits her. The act of violence dispels his control over the crowd, and they turn on him. In desperation, Godfrey reveals the Helm of Nabu, which he dons. When he tries to use the power within, the helm destroys his mind. Kent retrieves his helm, whilst Bronze Tiger slips away into the crowd to reunite with Task Force X. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQzSAgzjlRE/TiH6sl0PShI/AAAAAAAAAYI/YkWPuwINZKg/s1600/2011.07.16.6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQzSAgzjlRE/TiH6sl0PShI/AAAAAAAAAYI/YkWPuwINZKg/s200/2011.07.16.6.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>The crowd asks for forgiveness, but Guy berates them for already distrusting heroes, which allowed Godfrey to take control. Captain Marvel suggests that the heroes themselves may have been responsible for this, necessarily having to stand apart from humanity to face the threats that only they can face. Wonder Woman agrees, and Doctor Fate suggests reforming the Justice League, to which all the present heroes agree to, save Flash and Superman, who offer themselves when needed, and Wonder Woman, who has slipped away.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>On Apokolips, Darkseid vows that Earth will one day fall to him. The Phantom Stranger states his pride in standing with the legends of Earth.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve not been kind to various part of this crossover. Read issue by issue, there was a lot of monologuing from Darkseid, and way too much repetition by constantly touching base with the same heroes, operating outside of Reagan’s edict. Here, this weakness turns into a strength, as Ostrander unleashes the new Justice League onto the forces of Apokolips. Every hero gets a part to play in the battle, and the use of such a wide variety of heroes allows for a very unexpected moment, where the first hero to encounter Wonder Woman is Guy Gardner!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cpF0-9S2w4o/TiH6sEp__HI/AAAAAAAAAYE/sEhdmPskJrU/s1600/2011.07.16.5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cpF0-9S2w4o/TiH6sEp__HI/AAAAAAAAAYE/sEhdmPskJrU/s200/2011.07.16.5.JPG" width="131" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wonder Woman’s appearance here, although brief, is superb. A shadowy female figure observes Guy Gardner facing off against the Warhounds, resolving that to stay hidden would be a disservice to her Amazonian heritage. We then see her move, quite literally in a blur, before John Byrne unleashes one of the best pieces of artwork we’ve seen from him, a full page spread of Wonder Woman lifting a Warhound<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b57yuzSWAeI/TiH6s9-DxcI/AAAAAAAAAYM/CBS-KXHqFSs/s1600/2011.07.16.7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b57yuzSWAeI/TiH6s9-DxcI/AAAAAAAAAYM/CBS-KXHqFSs/s200/2011.07.16.7.JPG" width="153" /></a>It should be noted that Guy Gardner isn’t the only one taken with Wonder Woman. Superman here notices Wonder Woman, becoming gently obsessed with her over the next few months, before agreeing to a meetup/gentle date in Action Comics #600. It’s interesting that John Byrne teased this 25 years ago, with the rumours that one major element of the relaunched DC Universe in September will be a relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman. With the knowledge that both Action Comics and Justice League will initially be telling stories set in ‘the past’, my hope is that this fledgeling relationship will be given more room to grow, but with Superman ending up with Lois Lane, as per the last 20 years or so.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I like the way this story ends. It’s a very circular ending. Darkseid’s actions against Captain Marvel led Billy Batson to meet Lisa, strengthening her belief in heroes, leading her to be at the front and centre of the revolt against Godfrey. I would have liked to have seen more made of the fact that a child achieved what the heroes were unable to, breaking Godfrey’s spell, although the message that all you need to save the Earth from Darkseid’s machinations is a little child abuse is probably not one DC were wanting to play up! On a side-note, the last time Superman met Captain Marvel there was a definite air of unintentional paedophilia around. Here, Superman meets Marvel and a child gets beaten up. Maybe the two should stop having meetups! (I mention this, as one of the most popular posts on this site is my coverage of Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder #4, and I’m wondering if my audience are a bunch of strange, dark people who enjoy Superman endangering children. We’ll see what the hits are like for this page in a few weeks!).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws4mZGDv6ZQ/TiH6rdTCvpI/AAAAAAAAAX8/KHiAkoomHMg/s1600/2011.07.16.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws4mZGDv6ZQ/TiH6rdTCvpI/AAAAAAAAAX8/KHiAkoomHMg/s200/2011.07.16.3.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Although Superman again declines membership in the Justice League, it is clear that his presence is a powerful and inspiring one. He takes the lead against the parademons when they appear, and his words are a big part of the reformation of the Justice League. It would be several years before Superman would become the leader of heroes that we are used to, but seeing him stand up and be counted amongst the heroes of the DCU is a rarity at this stage, and a pleasure to see.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m going to wrap up by simply stating that I have really enjoyed the appearances of Task Force X in Legends. I love the way Ostrander wraps up their story whilst setting the scene for further adventures, and it’s a pretty safe bet that if I had been reading comics at this time, I would have definitely been out there picking up the first issue of Suicide Squad when it hit the shelves.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Geeky Bits</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The new Justice League would be written by Keith Giffen and JM Dematteis. The series would become notable for the way the writers worked around the restrictions of not being able to use many of the A-List superheroes. Characters like Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner would find their feet in Justice League International, and the title would become renowned for the use of humour, becoming colloquially known as the ‘Bwa-ha-ha’ League. This incarnation of the Justice League is well worth seeking out, as are the ‘sequels’ from the mid-2000s, Formerly Known As The Justice League, and JLA: Classified #4-9.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wonder Woman would return to her own title, having been completely rebooted in the wake of the Crisis, in 1987. George Perez initially handled the character - the various trade paperbacks that reprint his issues were recently plugged in the letter columns of DC comics - with successive runs from creators such as John Byrne, William Messner-Loebs, Phil Jiminez and Greg Rucka.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Next on World of Superman:</b> Probably another 3 week break. Either that, or Superman facing off against a gun-toting ex-marine called Bloodsport.<o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-86335670405679415452011-07-11T22:21:00.000+01:002011-07-11T22:21:12.981+01:00Legends #5<div class="MsoNormal">Hurrah, I've managed to recover the missing bits of this post! Apologies for no images other than the cover, I'm just desperate to get this post out, and I really don't want to re-grab all the panels I'd previously chosen.<br /><br />Just a fast note to say that the second and third episodes of the <a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/webpage">20 Minute Longbox</a> have been released, covering Daredevil #502 and Countdown #48 respectively. Go and check them out, and let me know what you think at <a href="mailto:20minutelongbox@gmail.com">20minutelongbox@gmail.com</a>.<br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39480_20060523130506_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39480_20060523130506_large.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Let Slip The Dogs Of War”<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plotter: John Ostrander<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scripter: Len Wein<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Penciller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Inker: Karl Kesel<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Letterer: Steve Haynie<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Editor: Mike Gold<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cover Date: March 1987<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Billy Batson stumbled through the deserted streets of Central City, haunted by the death of Macro Man. He is found by his new friend Lisa, who is concerned for his welfare. Angered by the rioting masses, Lisa runs off to try and intervene, but some stray rubble from the riot strikes her, knocking her out. Realising the danger of the anti-hero propaganda, Billy decides to put his own fears aside, and becomes Captain Marvel. Accessing the wisdom of Solomon, Marvel realises that Macro Man’s death was not his fault. He attempts to break up the riot, but Doctor Fate appears and teleports him away.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Fate is recruiting heroes who are defying the President’s order. Black Canary is next to join, followed by Guy Gardner, who has defeated the villain Sunspot. Blue Beetle and Batman are the next to join.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Meanwhile, Flash and Changeling are forced into an uneasy alliance with Captain Boomerang when the crowd manipulated by G. Gordon Godfrey erupts into a riot. Boomerang destroys a warhound, and the heroes discover that inside each one is a member of the public, piloting it. The mob goes for Boomerang, dragging him into the crowd. Before they can help, Flash and Changeling are recruited by Doctor Fate and taken away. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>At the White House, Superman is discussing Darkseid’s recent actions with President Reagan when he too is recruited. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>In Metropolis, Godfrey presents the captured Captain Boomerang&nbsp; to the baying crowd. In front of the crowd and the cameras, Boomerang sends a subtle message to the command of Task Force X, telling them to take action to save him or he’ll make trouble. Dismissing his captive, Godfrey declares that the government has lost its authority and commands that the crowd marches on Washington. Watching, Amanda Waller orders Rick Flagg to either rescue Captain Boomerang or eliminate him. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Godfrey is about to announce who his followers should obey as the ultimate authority when he is interrupted by the appearance of Doctor Fate and the heroes he has recruited. Watching from Apokolips, Darkseid tells the Phantom Stranger that either the heroes will be forced to battle the people they have sworn to protect or they will be destroyed, guaranteeing him victory no matter what the outcome. Meanwhile, in hospital, Jason Todd decides that he must fight against Godfrey’s manipulation and the insanity of his followers, no matter how serious his injuries. Despite having a broken arm and leg, he struggles into his Robin costume and heads off to fight.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If the first two issues of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Legends</i> were about dismantling the heroes of the world, and the second two primarily concerned themselves with maintaining a hero-banning status quo whilst at the same time developing the threat posed by G. Gordon Godfrey into a more outright form, this issue is about the final move of the pieces around the board ahead of the climax. We’ve had plenty of vignettes featuring heroes defying the presidential order; here we see this develop into a recruitment drive for a new Justice League. The Suicide Squad’s story, which seemed to be over with the defeat of Brimstone in issue #3, places itself at the centre of the climax with the threats made by Captain Boomerang.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sadly, one plot that receives a more perfunctory wrap-up is the guilt of Billy Batson, which is dispelled the moment he becomes Captain Marvel and the wisdom of Solomon reveals the deceit. One has to wonder why Billy never chose to quickly change to Marvel, use the wisdom to ascertain the true extent of his culpability, then pop back if it turns out it really was his fault. Later writers would work with the conceit that the wisdom of Solomon would have a presence in his mortal form (although the only example that springs to mind at the moment is at the start of the I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Justice League miniseries). Perhaps this moment would have held more weight within the issue if the reappearance of Marvel then led to the forming of the Justice League, with Marvel in the Doctor Fate role, but all that Marvel’s reappearance seems to achieve is getting his ass nearly kicked by a rioting mob.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The recruitment drive as well seems a bit overdrawn in this issue. Most encounters are limited to just one page, but did we really need to have four pages of Guy Gardner fighting Sunspot? I know that Guy Gardner as a Green Lantern was still a relatively new concern, but the fight seems to be fairly irrelevant and appears to serve no purpose other than to fill up space. I do like that most heroes are involved in keeping the peace or defeating a villain, but Blue Beetle is busy being mistaken for a peeping tom!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is a Superman blog, and Superman's role here is minor but pivotal, if a little out-of-synch with his other adventures this month. Having just survived combat with Darkseid and discovered his role in the deaths of hundreds of innocents whose only desire was a better life, Superman's first response on returning to Earth is to pop round to the White House for a chat with President Reagan. I've said it before, shouldn't he be off somewhere soul searching and attempting to atone for his (admittedly forced) actions, rather than taking tea with a man who has prevented him from acting publicly? Still without Superman being with Reagan when he is recruited by Doctor Fate, the President would have been less likely to rescind his edict in the next issue.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>&nbsp;There's a rumour that the original ending for this issue saw a mutant with the power to control American History animate the Lincoln Memorial and use it to defeat the warhounds, resulting in the next issue being devoted entirely to Wonder Woman's debut. Before the idea made it past the scripting stage, it was realised that animating a statue and getting it to single-handedly defend Washington DC was completely shite idea, and the plans were shelved.*<br /><br /><b>Next on World of Superman: </b>The finale of Legends. 'Nuff said.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">*No, I didn't like Secret Avengers #13. Why do you ask?</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-61772299323964219582011-06-27T22:02:00.000+01:002011-06-27T22:02:56.320+01:00Introducing... The 20 Minute LongboxSo, you've probably noticed that I've been absent again. I have a post queued up, I then edited it at St Pancras station, accidentally cancelled the scheduled posting, and lost half of the post as well. It's been a struggle to go back to it again, but it'll be here in the next couple of days.<br /><br />But I've also had another distraction. It turns out that I've gone and got me a podcast. And so, I present to you...<br /><br /><a href="http://20minutelongbox.libsyn.com/">The 20 Minute Longbox</a><br /><br />A brief and random dip into my longboxes, 20 Minute Longbox is a review of a random comic, one per episode. I've started with 52 #2, and the next episode, featuring Daredevil #502, will be up in a couple of days. The show is also <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/20-minute-longbox/id445268757">on iTunes</a>, and you can leave comments and reviews both there and at the libsyn page.<br /><br />My show is very similar to the blog <a href="http://randomlongbox.com/">randomlongbox.com</a>&nbsp;and I mean no disrespect to TomO by... well... ripping off his idea. However, we are both very different writers, with very different comic collections, and I'm sure the amount of crossover between our two projects will be minimal. TomO's blog looks like it's getting ready to return, and as soon as it does I'll be shouting about it, as it's one of my favourite reads on the internet.<br /><br />Anyway, that's enough from me. Go and check out my show, let me know what you think, and stop by the Random Longbox and take a peek.<br /><br />See you all in a couple of days!Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-40961119388791312002011-06-13T22:31:00.000+01:002011-06-13T22:31:23.858+01:00Action Comics #586<div class="MsoNormal">Yes, I'm back. I had a great time at the MCM Expo. I had my entire run of All Star Superman signed by Frank Quitely. I got Hitman #34 - yes, <i>that</i>&nbsp;issue - signed by John McCrea. I got the most amazing Doctor Who variant cover from Tony Lee. It's a TARDIS on the front, and the cover opens in the middle to reveal the console room, twice the size of the cover. The inside is bigger than the outside. It's genius! And I saw exclusive Green Lantern footage and heard Maurice LaMarche do the voice of The Brain live. And Billy West rolled out Ren and Stimpy. It was great, and if you didn't get the chance to go then I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I also got to see X-Men: First Class recently, and I've not felt that excited about an X-Men movie since X2. Everyone involved in the film did a cracking job, and <i>that</i>&nbsp;cameo was an absolute bloody treat. More recently, last night in fact, I saw the documentary film Senna, and I would fervently recommend that to anyone, regardless of your level of giving-a-crap about Formula 1. The film was superb, constructed entirely of archive footage and the very occasional context-giving voiceover. Go see it - you won't be disappointed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">That's enough of various bits and pieces, let's take a look at some comics.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/233/36850_20080107004652_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/233/36850_20080107004652_large.jpg" width="132" /></a><b>Legends Chapter 19: Superman vs The New Gods! The Champion!<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Storyteller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Embellisher: Dick Giordano<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Letterer: John Costanza<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Editor: Andrew Helfer<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cover Art: John Byrne</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cover Date: March 1987<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Release Date: 26/12/1986<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ztLcjatfWUM/TfaA-6glw9I/AAAAAAAAAWA/vK-QUdXtCQs/s1600/2011-06-13.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ztLcjatfWUM/TfaA-6glw9I/AAAAAAAAAWA/vK-QUdXtCQs/s200/2011-06-13.1.JPG" width="138" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Lightray and Orion head to Apokolips. Superman is being tested by Granny Goodness, telling him that he is the son of Darkseid. Looking on, Amazing Grace wonders if the testing is safe, as Superman has lost some of his strength along with his memories. Darkseid reveals the extent of his plans, pretending not to recognise Superman as Clark Kent, ensuring that he meets and trusts Grace, Glorious Godfrey’s sister, and then manipulating Superman into giving the Hunger Dogs a taste of hope before crushing that hope. Darkseid questions if Grace has fallen in love with Superman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Darkseid restore Superman’s powers and sends him off to fight for him, acknowledging the risk in doing so, as he has also restored Superman’s full brain functions and risks having his memories returned.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Superman flies above Apokolips and encounters Orion and Lightray. Lightray uses his powers to distract and confuse Superman whilst Orion prepares for battle. When he is attacked, Orion claims the right to single-combat, and the two fight. Orion quickly realises that Superman believes that he is the son of Darkseid, and removes his helmet to show Superman the true cost of being Darkseid’s progeny, hoping to shock Superman back to his true self.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bZbjGj6r94/TfaBACvitVI/AAAAAAAAAWM/1f6jE9NGuGw/s1600/2011-06-13.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="176" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bZbjGj6r94/TfaBACvitVI/AAAAAAAAAWM/1f6jE9NGuGw/s200/2011-06-13.4.JPG" width="200" /></i></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Meanwhile, Lightray encounters Amazing Grace, who uses her seduction powers to sway him to her side. Realising what is happening, Lightray emits a bright burst of light, blinding Grace and breaking her spell. Returning to Orion, he finds that Superman has been cowed. Orion uses his Mother Box to restore Superman’s memories and costume. Realising what had been done to him, Superman lets out a loud yell, alerting Darkseid to the failure of his plans. Darkseid sends his omega beams, this time to destroy Superman. Superman leads the beams across Apokolips to the palace, where he tricks them into striking Darkseid. Although he survives, Darkseid is weakened, and the two fight. As soon as Superman gains the upper hand, Darkseid opens a boom tube and returns Superman to Earth. He then allows Orion and Lightray to leave Apokolips. </i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-T0uJhSya0/TfaA_awk-yI/AAAAAAAAAWE/J-kVhcGBRP8/s1600/2011-06-13.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-T0uJhSya0/TfaA_awk-yI/AAAAAAAAAWE/J-kVhcGBRP8/s200/2011-06-13.2.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">The final part of this Apokolips trilogy both delivers a strong ending to the story yet at the same time feels unfinished, thanks to its commitments to the wider Legends crossover. We have some fantastic battles here, including the first time Superman goes toe-to-toe with Darkseid, and the issue really lives up to the title of the series. Yet the ending also feels rushed, with Darkseid sending Superman back to Earth in a boom-tube when the book is about to run out of pages, rather than because his encounter with Superman has reached a natural ending.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This book is trying to do too much, which this is evidenced on the cover. The already busy Action Comics cover format, with separate banners for the guest-stars and creators, also has to take the Legends banner and two chunks of cover text. Orion and Superman’s fight barely takes up half of the cover, and as great as the image is – I particularly like the way the outline of the ‘S’ shield survives the full force of Orion’s attack – it is drowned out in the mass of words and logos all fighting for prominence.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-As4aQa4ULj4/TfaA_lxzj1I/AAAAAAAAAWI/13uGTw3JAeA/s1600/2011-06-13.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-As4aQa4ULj4/TfaA_lxzj1I/AAAAAAAAAWI/13uGTw3JAeA/s200/2011-06-13.3.JPG" width="112" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Another way in which it is clear that this issue is trying to achieve too much is the inclusion of Lightray. His encounter with Amazing Grace is nice, but takes up space that is desperately needed by Superman. His presence has no real effect on Superman’s story within this issue, save as a mild distraction at the start of combat. As someone whose experience with the Fourth World is all from the post-Crisis era, Lightray is known to me as the guy who shows up here and who dies in Countdown to Final Crisis. Based on his appearance in this book, he appears to me to be a flying Dazzler, and whilst I am sure his role in the wider narrative of New Genesis is more substantial, I have never encountered this in my Superman reading. His brief usage of his power is good, but he doesn’t have the space in the narrative to make any real impact on me.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Orion has a much stronger role in the book than his companion. If this was your first time reading Orion, I feel that you walk away from this book knowing everything you need to know about the character. In particular, the dichotomy of the character really comes through. Although he struggles to control his Apokoliptian heritage, what really draws him into the battle is Superman’s claim to be Darkseid’s son. The art doesn’t quite convey the full horror of Orion’s un-muted appearance – let’s face it, there are scarier looking people out there who are not sons of the universe’s most evil being – but it does convey the idea of someone physically scarred by their ancestry.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CdAFd13BGbc/TfaBARy2AJI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/5vaKBUFu-9k/s1600/2011-06-13.5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CdAFd13BGbc/TfaBARy2AJI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/5vaKBUFu-9k/s1600/2011-06-13.5.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I wrote last time about how I felt it was a missed opportunity not to have Superman deal with his actions whilst under Darkseid’s control. We’ll Superman see in the next instalment of Legends later in the same day as his return to Earth, and he is calm and rational enough to debate Darkseid’s plans with the President, implying that he has fully recovered and come to terms with his actions (in fact, that scene strongly implies that Superman’s entire stay on Apokolips occurred within a few hours, which would make the uprising of the Hunger Dogs the universe’s fastest revolution). Here, he lets rip at Darkseid, his anger driving him into his most physically combative encounter to date. Superman outmaneuvers the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>omega beams, causing them to strike Darkseid, and Byrne’s artwork here portrays a damaged, hurt and pissed off Darkseid with a simple effectiveness that doesn’t diminish the character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Darkseid is a mean fighter, and this first of many great clashes between these two characters is a strong one. This is the first time Superman has gone toe-to-toe with someone of equal power and prowess since he confronted his clone in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel #</i>5, and the artwork again lends great weight and power to the blows that are landed.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The problem with this issue is how everything resolves, or doesn’t. All of a sudden, Darkseid opens a boom tube and deposits Superman back on Earth. He then exchanges some brief words with his son before letting him go. The entire Orion/Darkseid scene feels very underwhelming, with both characters departing to suit the scope of the Superman story instead of following the wider story of the New Gods. Yes, there’s a reference to their final battle that is yet to come (sadly, and spoilers here, it occurs in Countdown to Final Crisis, and the warm-up bout is Darkseid vs Jimmy Olsen…), but it does feel like Byrne has written himself into a little bit of a corner, with not enough room in the issue to resolve the non-Superman story, instead just letting it grind to a halt as soon as the main character is removed from the action.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>&nbsp;Orion and Lightray are both familiar with Superman, but their first meeting has as yet gone unrecorded. This is presumably the first time that Superman has entered direct combat with Darkseid, but if there have been other occurrences before now, they have gone unrecorded.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Next on World of Superman:</b>&nbsp;As Superman starts to take a larger role in the main Legends series, we drop down to one issue per post and take a look at Legends #5.</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-44562332207911719552011-05-27T10:38:00.001+01:002011-05-27T11:31:59.099+01:00Adventures of Superman #426<div class="MsoNormal">It's here! <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork/?p=1039">Golden Age Superman episode 19</a>, featuring myself with the host Jon M Wilson covering Superman #3, Action Comics #20 and a whole bunch of newspaper strips, has gone live. I had a blast recording the show last week, and although I get a little quiet towards the end as my local time heads towards midnight, I think I made a good shot at talking about comics that I have very little experience with. Thanks to Jon for having me on!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It's been a busy week, what with a whole bunch of work for my job, and preparation for this weekend's MCM Expo. I'm really looking forward to the show - I'm off in a couple of hours to the preview day. I can't wait to re-meet some creators from last year, including Kieron Gillen, who had yet to have his first issue of Uncanny X-Men published, and Tony Lee, the writer of the fantastic IDW Doctor Who series. There are panels for both the Green Lantern and X-Men First Class movie, and most of the voice cast of Futurama are making an appearance, although sadly no Bender or Leela. But I'm really looking forward to meeting some great Superman-related guests. Occasional JLA: Classified writer Warren Ellis (I'll admit, that's a very tenuous connection) is a guest of honour for the weekend. Hitman artist John McCrea will be there, and in celebration of that I picked up a copy of the award-winning <i>Hitman #34</i>, featuring Superman, for him to sign.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The biggest Superman name for the convention, though, is <i>All-Star Superman</i>&nbsp;and <i>JLA: Earth-2</i>&nbsp;artist Frank Quitely. I have these titles from the original release, and I also picked up the first trade of <i>Batman and Robin</i>&nbsp;yesterday to re-read and get signed, and I can't wait to meet this amazing artist.<br /><br />As with last year I'll be posting a review and round-up after the event, but for 'live' coverage, be sure to follow me on Twitter as that's how I'll be keeping up with the world.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29339_20060307120231_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/50/29339_20060307120231_large.jpg" width="128" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Legends Chapter 18: From The Dregs…</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b><br /><b>Writer: Marv Wolfman<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Artist/Co-Plotter: Jerry Ordway<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Co-Plotter: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Letterer: Albert de Guzman<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Editor: Andrew Helfer<o:p></o:p></b><br /><b>Cover Art: Jerry Ordway</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cover Date: March 1987<o:p></o:p></b><br /><b>Release Date: 18/12/1986</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VQRRd86oHjM/Td9wvWDQpDI/AAAAAAAAAVs/sDrBBnP0Ns0/s1600/2011-05-27.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VQRRd86oHjM/Td9wvWDQpDI/AAAAAAAAAVs/sDrBBnP0Ns0/s200/2011-05-27.1.jpg" width="141" /></a><i>The fires of Apokolips burn. Beneath the surface of the planet, a scavenger collects waste and debris from the flame pits. He has a luck catch when he snags red material, and pulls the unconscious body of Superman from the flames. Realising that his catch has survived the fires, he wonders whether he should attempt to sell him to Darkseid, but decides against it, choosing instead to let the Hunger Dogs of Apokolips know of his find. Word spreads, and a crowd forms around Superman’s prone form. The scavenger attempts to show Superman’s invulnerability by scorching his hand with a fiery torch, but gets a surprise when Superman revives and grabs his hand. Superman is more surprised to discover that his hand has actually been burned. The Hunger Dogs react to the apparent deception by forming a mob, but the appearance of Amazing Grace, the woman from the previous issue, cows the threat. She declares Superman their saviour, one of the New Gods of New Genesis, and announces his arrival as the start of a revolution.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i><br /><i>Watching Amazing Grace and the Hunger Dogs on a monitor screen, Darkseid is unconcerned, unleashing his parademons on the crowd. Although he is unable to remember much of who he is or how he came to Apokolips, Superman recognises innocents in danger, and leaps to their defence, fighting the parademons. After a short but furious battle, Superman is victorious, and the Hunger Dogs strip the defeated parademons of their amour. Superman notices that every time he begins to think clearly and remember details of his life, his mind starts to cloud over. Unable to resist, he accepts Amazing Grace’s proclamation of him as Apokolips’ saviour, and becomes a figurehead for the rebellion.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i><br /><i>Elsewhere, Highfather of the New Gods feels a sense of dread and unease, and consults the Source. The Source shows him something that makes him fear for the safety of all the New Gods.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fd2kaKwUeBc/Td9wyAcNatI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ezfVopWJ-5o/s1600/2011-05-27.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fd2kaKwUeBc/Td9wyAcNatI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ezfVopWJ-5o/s200/2011-05-27.4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><i>On Apokolips, Amazing Grace fires up the leadership of the rebellion, before tending to Superman, relaxing his aches away in a herbal bath. Grace replaces Superman’s costume with armour emblazoned with Superman’s symbol. As Superman leads the battles, his logo and costume become symbols of the rebellion. The battle approaches Darkseid’s citadel. Amazing Grace oversees the battle from a balcony. Declaring victory, Superman embraces her and gives her a passionate kiss. Superman addresses the crowd, telling them that their hope for freedom must now be ended. Parademons swoop down and massacre the Hunger Dogs. Superman and Amazing Grace then turn away from the slaughter and face their master, Darkseid.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />The second chapter of this three-part Apokoliptian romp gives us a Superman who is barely the character we know and love, and whose passion and drive to fight against injustice is gruesomely subverted in the closing pages of the book.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-BQ_G5sTa8/Td9ww3r1jeI/AAAAAAAAAVw/FGkoyPWG6_I/s1600/2011-05-27.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-BQ_G5sTa8/Td9ww3r1jeI/AAAAAAAAAVw/FGkoyPWG6_I/s200/2011-05-27.2.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>I came out with a lot of love for Jerry Ordway when he made his artistic debut on the Superman books, and that love stands, but it’s unfortunate that in the midst of the entire Legends event and this crossover, all of which was pencilled by John Byrne, we didn’t get a guest spot from Byrne on Adventures of Superman. Ordway’s style, whilst strong and distinctive, feels out of place in the middle of such a Byrne-led story. There is some great artwork on display here. Ordway draws the heck out of the crowds of rebelling Hunger Dogs, and his parademons look and act as threatening as the characters treat them. In later years, parademons would come to be used cannon fodder for the fists of various heroes, but here a small force are as great a threat to the rebellion as Darkseid himself. Talking of Darkseid, he is well-presented by Ordway, but the hard, malicious tone that Byrne brings to the character is sadly missing. The final panel in particular should be far more ominous than it looks.&nbsp;Wolfman's scripting also feels out of place in the wider context of the crossover. His scripting is more verbose than both Byrne and Ostrander, resulting in pages that look more crowded than the other issues, and that take longer to read. It's a good read, but like the artwork, it sits awkwardly in the middle of the story.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The growth of the rebellion is interesting. As the crowds grow and they get closer to their goal, Amazing Grace becomes more… well… amazing! Her transformation from rag-clad fugitive to glorious princess overseeing the advance of her troops is a sure tip to the reader that not is all as it seems, although subtle enough to prevent the shock of the final twist from being lessened.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2K4DuOhMbvY/Td9wy98zBWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/PXBj1vOcuCQ/s1600/2011-05-27.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2K4DuOhMbvY/Td9wy98zBWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/PXBj1vOcuCQ/s200/2011-05-27.5.jpg" width="108" /></a>And what a final moment this is. Superman unleashes a horde of parademons onto the massed Hunger Dogs, wiping them out, before pledging allegiance to Darkseid himself. It’s heartbreaking to see Superman party to and instigator of these actions, even though it is clear, if unstated, that Amazing Grace is the one responsible. What perhaps robs this moment of its true power is the lack of reflection or penance on Superman’s part after he regains his memories. I believe that Superman’s conscience is strong enough that he would feel responsible, even though he was being manipulated by Darkseid and Grace, and indeed, we have seen plenty of occasions where Superman takes responsibility for events completely out of his control. In a couple of years we would see Superman react very strongly to three deaths that he took complete responsibility for, but I feel that it was a missed opportunity to deal with Superman’s guilt, regardless of whether he could be truly blamed or not.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /><b>The Geeky Bits:</b>&nbsp;Several references are made throughout this series to the one-shot titled <i>The Hunger Dogs</i>, published in 1985 as <i>DC Graphic Novel #4</i>. This was Jack Kirby's final work for DC, and his intention was to bring the Fourth World saga to a close with the death of the New Gods. DC disagreed, demanding that the New Gods survive the series. When the story finally saw publication, it was not as Kirby had intended, with many page orders restructured and plot points revised. The plot featured a rebellion on Apokolips by the slave population, the titular Hunger Dogs, that saw Darkseid fleeing Apokolips. At some point between that story and this, Darkseid regained control of Apokolips, and the massacre of the Hunger Dogs in this issue would be the final rebellion on Apokolips.<br /><br />This issue was covered on <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_005.mp3">episode 5 of From Crisis To Crisis</a><br /><br /><b>Next on World of Superman:</b>&nbsp;We'll be back after the weekend to cover a four-way smackdown featuring Orion, Lightray, Superman and Darkseid.</div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-19046215711398909032011-05-20T21:13:00.001+01:002011-05-20T21:30:52.068+01:00Superman #3<div class="MsoNormal">Hey guys, welcome back to the World of Superman.<br /><br />Before we get going today, I just wanted to throw a shout-out to Jeffrey Taylor, co-host of From Crisis To Crisis and a contributor and administrator of the<a href="http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php"> Superman Homepage.</a>&nbsp;I had the great pleasure of meeting Jeffrey at the start of April in San Francisco, where my holiday coincided with WonderCon, and Jeffrey was kind enough to take a part of his Sunday morning to share breakfast and chat about Superman and life in general. Jeffrey has just started a series of articles for movies.com focusing on the production of the upcoming Superman: The Man of Steel film. The first instalment went up a few days ago, and future instalments will arrive every other Tuesday. <a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-news/new-news/man-of-steel-countdown-and-who-disguised-as-clark-kent/3044">Go check it out!</a>&nbsp;The article is a great read, and I'll be looking forward to future posts. Don't forget to add your comments and interact as sell - I'm told that the next post will be worthy of comment!<br /><br />But let us turn our view away from Jeffrey, and instead take a look at a maniacal super-god, determined to conquer the Earth. I'll leave you guys to make up your own punchlines!<br /><b><br /></b><br /><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/114/1860_20060828201215_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/114/1860_20060828201215_large.jpg" width="130" /></a><b>Legends Chapter 17:&nbsp;Legends From The Darkside</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Writer/Penciller: John Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Inker: Terry Austin<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Letterer: John Costanza<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Colorist: Tom Ziuko<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Editor: Andrew Helfer<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cover Artist: John Byrne</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cover Date: March 1987<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b>Release Date: 11/12/1986</b></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Lois Lane arrives at the Metropolis Grande Hotel to interview G. Gordon Godfrey. Godfrey resists attempts by Lois to pry into his background, and tells her that the true goal of his crusade is to see super-heroes wiped from the face of the Earth.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JiTcHKU5YKs/TdbJANVvHJI/AAAAAAAAAVU/OPiCcNo8BG8/s1600/2011-05-20.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JiTcHKU5YKs/TdbJANVvHJI/AAAAAAAAAVU/OPiCcNo8BG8/s200/2011-05-20.1.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><i>In the streets below, Clark Kent rushes through the crowds in a panic. He is being pursued by two beams of light that take great care not to strike anyone as they chase him, and is unable to change into Superman as a result of President Reagan’s edict. Clark heads into the sewers, ducking to avoid the beams, but is struck by them when they unexpectedly reverse direction. The beams take him to Apokolips, to Darkseid’s feat. Darkseid cannot understand why his omega beams haven’t brought Superman to him, and gaining no help from the Phantom Stranger, he hurls Clark through a window and into the Armagetto below.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Finding himself in the garbage of the Armagetto, Clark wonders about the Phantom Stranger’s involvement with Darkseid’s plans. Denizens of Armagetto quickly descend on Clark, stripping him of his possessions and clothes, revealing him as Superman, who easily bats them aside. Exploring the Armagetto, Superman reviews all he knows of the New Gods. He uses his telescopic vision and discovers that New Genesis no longer exists. Superman ducks further down into the Armagetto to avoid detection by Parademons, and uses rags and cloth to disguise his costume.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--K5bVxT4gXE/TdbJCsQHPqI/AAAAAAAAAVg/0-OaRlBBi7U/s1600/2011-05-20.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--K5bVxT4gXE/TdbJCsQHPqI/AAAAAAAAAVg/0-OaRlBBi7U/s200/2011-05-20.4.jpg" width="130" /></a><i>Proceeding on foot, Superman comes across an angry mob, protesting the imminent execution of a woman who preached against Darkseid’s rule. Recognising that a life is in danger, Superman steps forward, breaking the fence that keeps the mob back and demanding the woman’s release. With the shock troops distracted by Superman’s show of strength, the woman escapes. The troops summon a pacifier, an oversized armoured soldier, who attacks Superman. The two fight, and Superman is able to crack the armour, releasing a parasitic slug-like creature which attacks Superman, attaching itself to him. As Superman struggles, he topples into a flame pit. Looking on, Darkseid laughs.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is a great book. Whilst I felt that the Legends series proper had lost momentum leading into this crossover, this book comes out of the gate with all guns blazing. Lois gets to grip with G. Gordon Godfrey and his twisted philosophy, and his manipulation powers come across as far more insidious when directed solely at Lois. Her admission that his arguments are so persuasive that she has to remind herself which side she is on carries as much weight as the baying mobs seen in the back half of the Legends storyline. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XqIF6yHPXwg/TdbJBHMz9bI/AAAAAAAAAVY/K8PFBeQx_04/s1600/2011-05-20.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XqIF6yHPXwg/TdbJBHMz9bI/AAAAAAAAAVY/K8PFBeQx_04/s200/2011-05-20.2.jpg" width="165" /></a></div><br />In the meantime, an unprepared Superman narrowly avoids a one-on-one confrontation with Darkseid. Clark’s madcap dash through the streets of Metropolis has a real sense of panic to it. You really get the feeling of his desperation, forced to stay in his civilian identity but frantically trying to outpace the omega beams. Thankfully the Phantom Stranger is present to help deflect Darkseid’s attentions when he arrives on Apokolips, although it is unusual that Darkseid should be so trusting of another’s word, especially when it would appear to cast doubt on his own abilities.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V9xqApOePp0/TdbJBs6uiZI/AAAAAAAAAVc/HunGPVDwR8U/s1600/2011-05-20.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V9xqApOePp0/TdbJBs6uiZI/AAAAAAAAAVc/HunGPVDwR8U/s200/2011-05-20.3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Superman’s adventures on Apokolips are interesting. After twenty-five years of Superman vs Darkseid stories in different media, we are used to Superman marching into Apokolips on a war footing, ready to throw down with Darkseid as soon as he needs to. Having him skulk around in the Armagetto, his costume covered by rags, is an different and clever way to get Superman involved with the story. I particularly like the touch where Superman’s aura that keeps his costume intact during battle also prevents the grime of the Armagetto from dirtying him, forcing him to hide in the shadows to avoid detection by Darkseid’s troops.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BI_NZiWot_I/TdbJDZXhOAI/AAAAAAAAAVk/5qhFQJGd8iY/s1600/2011-05-20.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="90" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BI_NZiWot_I/TdbJDZXhOAI/AAAAAAAAAVk/5qhFQJGd8iY/s200/2011-05-20.5.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Of course, a whole issue of skulking would not make for a satisfying read, and it doesn't take long for the injustices of Apokolips to bring Superman out. The throwdown with the pacifier is a great piece of action. John Byrne’s style seems particularly suited to the designs and environments of the Fourth World, and the pacifier – and the slug-like parasite within – are strong visuals.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j2QsvNfefkU/TdbJEFjzw8I/AAAAAAAAAVo/IkIIryGdhME/s1600/2011-05-20.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j2QsvNfefkU/TdbJEFjzw8I/AAAAAAAAAVo/IkIIryGdhME/s200/2011-05-20.6.jpg" width="132" /></a>I love, just love, the final page of this book, where the camera pulls back from Superman’s descent into the flame-pit to a menacing, gloating Darkseid. It takes a lot to be able to draw Darkseid smiling or laughing, and Byrne really sells the image in the final panel. There is an incredible amount of sinister and insidious delight in Darkseid’s reaction to Superman’s plight, and this whole page makes for a great cliffhanger to the book.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Geeky Bits:</b> Man, I can’t believe I forgot to drop this in on the last post!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Although this is the first time that readers saw Superman face Darkseid after the Man of Steel reboot, Clark's thoughts here clearly indicate that the two have met before. John Byrne wrote the story of how Superman first encountered the New Gods in the closing issue of his series Jack Kirby's Fourth World (<a href="http://worldofsuperman.blogspot.com/2010/08/jack-kirbys-fourth-world-20.html">covered here</a>), and later events would seem to canonise the pre-Crisis Justice League of America #183-185.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is the first time all of the current Superman titles directly tie into each other, with the story continuing from book to book. For the next few years, such inter-title continuity will be the exception, rather than the norm, but as we move from the 1980s into the 1990s, these three books (with the addition of Superman: The Man Of Steel) will form a continuous ongoing storyline, eventually linked by the ‘shield numbering’ on the covers, that will be known colloquially as the Neverending Battle style of storytelling. This will last until 1999 when the replacement of almost all of the creative teams on the four titles will only see continual inter-title storytelling for special events and crossovers.<o:p></o:p><br /><br />This issue was covered on Episode 5 of <a href="http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Audio/Crisis_to_Crisis_Ep_005.mp3">From Crisis To Crisis.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Next on World of Superman:</b> Forgive me, for I have been watching too much Futurama (particularly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All My Circuits</i>), but… Superman comes down with a sudden case of… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AMNESIA!!!?!?!!</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-58069586354960374772011-05-17T10:57:00.000+01:002011-05-17T10:57:09.078+01:00Legends #3 and #4We're back! Check out my previous post for details of my latest podcast appearance. I'll let you know as soon as it's up and available on iTunes.<br /><br />I'm writing this post from my new laptop, and sadly I don't have my image editing software up and running yet, so no scans to illustrate the posts. Hopefully I'll be properly set in time for the next post.<br /><br />Anyway, on with the story!<br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>Legends #3</b><br /><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39478_20060523123428_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39478_20060523123428_large.jpg" width="128" /></a><b>Send For... The Suicide Squad</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>Plotter: John Ostrander </b><br /><b>Scripter: Len Wein</b><br /><b>Penciller: John Byrne</b><br /><b>Inker: Karl Kesel</b><br /><b>Letterer: Steve Haynie</b><br /><b>Colorist: Tom Ziuko</b><br /><b>Editor: Mike Gold</b><br /><b>Cover Artist: John Byrne</b><br /><b>Cover Date: January 1987</b><br /><b>Release Date: 23/10/1986</b><br /><br /><i>Angry mobs lay siege to public headquarters of super-heroes, whose activities have been prevented by executive order. Sarge Steel acts a a chaperone to the Teen Titans, but is unable to follow through his threats of extreme force when Changeling and the Flash decide to head out to help. Meanwhile, Task Force X is given their purpose - carry out missions in exchange for pardons - and with most of the team wearing explosive bracers to keep them in check, are directed to take down Brimstone. They engage the monster at the foot of Mount Rushmore.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>Billy Batson, distraught at the death of Macro Man, goes into hiding, meeting a young girl called Lisa who has become separated from her parents. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne visits Jason Todd in hospital. As Bruce comforts his injured sidekick, shots ring out from outside, a symbol of the civil disorder inspired by G. Gordon Godfrey. Wayne leaves, determined to prove that President Reagan's edict was wrong.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>During the battle, Blockbuster directly attacks Brimstone, who reaches down and burns the villain to death in his fist. Revelling in the destruction, Brimstone leaves his chest open to attack, and is destroyed by a shot from Deadshot, wielding a specially-constructed laser sniper. In the aftermath, Captain Boomerang realises that everyone on the team was considered to be expendable, including Rick Flag.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>At the White House, Superman pledges his support to Reagan's edict, despite his vocal opposition to it. At the same time, Billy Batson is invited to dinner by Lisa's parents. During the meal, G. Gordon Godfrey appears on the TV, provoking a reaction in Lisa's family that intimidates Billy into running away again. Catching up , Lisa tells him that she still believes in super-heroes.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>Throughout the issue, Darkseid and the Phantom Stranger debate Darkseid's plans. Observing Lisa's faith, the Stranger declares that this is why Darkseid is doomed to fail. Darkseid refuses to believe this, unveiling the next phase in his strategy - his Warhounds.</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39479_20060523130454_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/77/39479_20060523130454_large.jpg" width="128" /></a></div><b>Legends #4</b><br /><b>Cry Havoc</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>Plotter: John Ostrander</b><br /><b>Scripter: Len Wein</b><br /><b>Penciller: John Byrne</b><br /><b>Inker: Karl Kesel</b><br /><b>Letterer: Steve Haynie</b><br /><b>Colorist: Carl Gafford</b><br /><b>Editor: Mike Gold</b><br /><b>Cover Art: John Byrne</b><br /><b>Cover Date: Feb 1987</b><br /><b>Release Date: 24/11/1986</b><br /><br /><i>In Star City, an attack by Count Vertigo is foiled by a law-breaking Black Canary. A policeman pulls a gun, attempting to arrest her, but is blocked by his partner. The two argue whilst Black Canary escapes, with the first policeman accidentally shooting and killing the second. Attempting to rationalize his actions, the policeman concludes that Black Canary made him shoot, and thus she murdered his partner.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>On Apokolips, Darkseid sees all on Earth, despatching Desaad to the land of Skartaris to destroy the legend of Travis Morgan, the Warlord. Elsewhere in Gotham City, Batman foils a raid by the Joker, apprehending him in defiance of the Presidential Order. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a gang of body-building bank robbers are caught by Guy Gardner. In Chicago, Blue Beetle foils a heist by Chronos, but is forced to let the villain escape when the police arrive and turn their attentions to him. Meanwhile, spurred into action by the growing public hysteria, Doctor Fate returns to service.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>In Washington, Rick Flag announces to Task Force X that their actions against Brimstone have earned them their freedom, de-activating their bracelets and letting them free. At the same time, G. Gordon Godfrey addresses a rally in Gotham City calling for a revolt against President Reagan for the weakness of his frequently-flouted edict. He introduces the weapon to be used against the government, human-controlled Warhounds.&nbsp;Enjoying his freedom, Captain Boomerang goes on a rampage, but is quickly caught by the Teen Titans. As they prepare to take him away, Flash and Changeling are attacked by two Warhounds.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>On Apokolips, Darkseid turns his attention to Superman, unleashing the power of his Omega Beams.</i><br /><br />The middle chapters of <i>Legends</i>&nbsp;feel like they both progress the story and tread water at the same time. There is a large amount of time spent setting up tie-in issues in the fourth chapter, despatching Desaad to participate in the <i>Warlord</i>&nbsp;title, and using the cliffhanger to draw readers into the next month's Superman titles. We also spend a lot of time following various future members of Justice League International as they ignore the presidential edict, although in the case of some members such as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, they are newer characters within the DC Universe, and in the case of Guy Gardner, a character with a new status quo, having recently received a power ring during the Crisis. Whilst these vignettes were undoubtedly important at the time, knowing where these characters will end up after the crossover makes most of the fourth issue seems like an extended exercise in moving the pieces of the story into position.<br /><br />I do like the continuation of the Task Force X storyline. It plays very nicely into Darkseid's schemes that Brimstone, the monster that has apparently destroyed the Justice League of America, should be brought down by a morally dubious government-sponsored team of super-villains, hardly an achievement that can be propogandized.<br /><br />I'll be honest here. I see the Legends crossover in four parts - the opening two issues, these two, the Superman crossover, and then the conclusion. I like the opening, love the Superman crossover, enjoy the ending, but see these issues, especially the fourth, as the bit we have to get through to get to the good stuff. I have nothing against the creators, but apart from the death of Brimstone, it all feels a bit too much 'middle chapter'-ish. The cliffhanger to the third issue, the introduction of the Warhounds, is barely touched upon in the fourth, save for a brief reference to the fact that people get 'turned into' them.<br /><br />Knowing the great Apokolitian action just around the corner, I think it's best to draw a veil here and reconvene at Darkseid's feet.<br /><br /><b>Next on World of Superman:</b>&nbsp;Clark Kent vs Apokolips!Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-53640035914066243512011-05-16T21:10:00.000+01:002011-05-16T21:10:06.234+01:00Golden Age SupermanHi guys, just a fast post, made mid-recording of my good friend Jon M. Wilson's podcast Golden Age Superman. Jon's recapping concurrent releases from the month, which features Superman #3 and Action Comics &nbsp;#20.<br /><br />I'm so very close to a new post, featuring Legends #3 and #4, then featuring Superman #3, this time from the second series.<br /><br />Anyway, back to the podcast!Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-46717442332667625552011-04-20T22:04:00.000+01:002011-04-20T22:04:09.876+01:00Sarah-Jane SmithThis is not a Superman post.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />About 22 hours ago, a post appeared on Facebook that I initially thought and wanted to believe was a sick, tasteless joke. It told me that Elisabeth Sladen had died. I hate it when things like this pop up, because I fall for them like crazy. I fell for the Samuel L. Jackson one a few months ago, where CNN accidentally tweeted of his death and it spread like wildfire. I fell for the Michael Jackson thing a few years ago, then refused to believe it when it actually happened. The post linked to a BBC news story. Surely the BBC couldn't be complicit in a hoax about the death of the star of their most popular children's dramas, The Sarah-Jane Adventures?<br /><br />Sadly, they weren't. The news was true.<br /><br />Completely out of nowhere, Elisabeth Sladen, the actress behind the most popular and enduring companion of the entire 49-year history of Doctor Who, had sadly succumbed to battle with cancer that very few people knew that she was fighting.<br /><br />I've spent the past day in a state of partial shock. I can't think of anyone's passing that has affected me more, and I can't quite work out why. Sarah-Jane was never my companion. She debuted a full decade before I was born, and by the time I discovered Doctor Who the series had been consigned to history, bar the publication of a regular novel series. And yet, whenever companions were discussed, the name 'Sarah-Jane Smith' was always mentioned with the highest praise and respect. Coupled with the most popular Doctor (at least, until David Tennant), Sarah-Jane had managed to burn herself into the national consciousness, the Doctor Who-loving bits of it, with such presence that twenty years after her departure from the show she was still remembered with more than casual fondness. (Of course, she never really departed, returning in 1981, 1983, 1993, 2006, and beyond).<br /><br />Until a few years ago, bar a repeat of Pyramids of Mars shown when I was still a bit too young to truly appreciate her performance, I had never seen Sarah-Jane Smith in action. When I remedied that, with a rented DVD of The Time Warrior, I was very impressed. Most of what I knew of companions came from the Target novelisations, and they tended to embellish and over-sell the character in comparison to the performance on screen. In the case of Sarah-Jane, the opposite was true. The printed word couldn't hold a candle to what I was seeing.<br /><br />===<br /><br />In 2006, Russell T. Davies was looking for a way to strengthen ties between the revival of Doctor Who and its past. Working on the season-long theme of what would happen to Rose when she left the Doctor's side, the decision was taken to bring back a former companion from the show's classic era. There was only one person who could be brought back - Sarah-Jane Smith (oh, and K-9, the robot dog). The third episode of the second series, School Reunion, was as close as Doctor Who has ever got to a masterpiece (some dodgy CGI aside). Sladen's performance was pitched perfectly. The moment where she ran into the TARDIS in the school basement and then into the Doctor was the most electric moment of the entire series. Her return was a success, propelling her into a successful spin-off show, 25 years after her first attempt!<br /><br />For me, the shining moment of Sladen's performances in new Doctor Who came from the Season 4 finale, Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Her reaction to the revelation of the Daleks as the 'kidnapper's of Earth, crying whilst hugging her adoptive son closely to her, was so human and so painful to watch that it grounded what was otherwise a very overblown, but enjoyable, piece of space opera. Even better was a confrontation with Davros from the second part, referencing scenes from Genesis of the Daleks from 34 years previously. This short interaction crackled, Sladen was feisty and defiant, living proof beyond the Doctor that Davros was doomed to fail in his plans. Even better was the fact that for these two episodes, Sladen, along with several other cast members, wasn't credited as a guest star, but received her name in the opening credits, the coveted 'and' position, for the first time in her career.<br /><br />The news of her death of shocking, and pretty much took everyone by surprise. Twitter was full, initially, of comments trying to discover if this was a terrible hoax, then with anguished realisation and acceptance, before heading into a day of celebration and remembrance. There have been many responses to her death, and I'd like to link a few of them.<br /><br />Chip, the Two Minute Time Lord, released episode 201 of his podcast within hours of the news of Elisabeth's death. A tender, heartfelt, and brief look at his reactions to the news. <a href="http://twominutetimelord.com/">http://twominutetimelord.com/</a><br /><br />Tony Lee, writer of the ongoing Doctor Who comic from IDW, wrote a warm recollection of her impact on his life, both personally and professionally, over at his blog.<br /><a href="http://www.tonylee.co.uk/index.php?option=com_wordpress&amp;p=255&amp;Itemid=1">http://www.tonylee.co.uk/index.php?option=com_wordpress&amp;p=255&amp;Itemid=1</a><br /><br />Richard Herring, comedian, covered his discovery of her passing during the interval of his stand-up tour, before launching into a very touching remembrance of her, probably the most tender writing from someone not directly connected with the show or the franchise.<br /><a href="http://richardherring.com/warmingup/?id=3095">http://richardherring.com/warmingup/?id=3095</a><br /><br />Tom Baker, former Doctor, writes about the loss of his friend, and publishes some rare behind the scenes pictures from his archive.<br /><a href="http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/">www.tom-baker.co.uk/</a><br /><br />Finally, the current generation of fans, those who knew Elisabeth Sladen primarily through the revived series and the Sarah-Jane Adventures, post their thoughts and tributes over at the CBBC Newsround site. There are so many, from young children to teenagers, and the simplicity and honesty of what they have to say is heartbreaking.<br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9460000/newsid_9463000/9463099.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9460000/newsid_9463000/9463099.stm</a><br /><br />I hope Elisabeth knew of some of the extent of the love that people had for her, and I hope that these good wishes, fond memories, and public remembrances act as a small measure of comfort for her family in these difficult times.<br /><br />Elisabeth Sladen<br />1936-2003Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-71219916725014422512011-04-10T15:32:00.000+01:002011-04-10T15:32:39.644+01:00A fast 'Hello'Hi all!<br /><br />Well, I'm back from my holidays. I had a great time over in California, exploring the state, enjoying the good weather, rueing the bad, and generally having the time of my life. I had a few nice comic-related experiences, discovering Earth-2 Comics in Sherman Oaks and discovering that the owner had spent a large part of the late 1980s in London, working for and with most of the comics shops that I've ever had a pull list from. I also encountered WonderCon in San Francisco, although due to schedule and not buying a ticket I only encountered the outside of the convention center. But being there did allow me to meet and enjoy a breakfast with Jeffrey Taylor of the supermanhomepage.com and the From Crisis To Podcast.<br /><br />Sadly, it's going to be a bit longer before we get back into things here at the World of Superman. I'm currently starting the huge task of packing up my life and moving to the other side of London. At the same time, my computer has been hit with a crazy mad virus which at the moment is preventing it from booting up. I'm getting help with it, but my confidence is low and I think it may have to be a new computer before too long.<br /><br />So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can be back regularly just after Easter, but if I'm not then you know why.<br /><br />See you all soon!Eldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002105298367062777.post-9296034597316611412011-03-16T23:11:00.000+00:002011-03-16T23:11:21.003+00:00Where in the world is the World of Superman?Hi all.<br /><br />So, I guess those New Year's resolutions about regular and timely postings went out of the window pretty quickly, huh?<br /><br /><br />In brief, I wasn't intending to be away from the blog for so long without any notice. However, a month ago, my 6-and-a-bit year relationship came to an end, and I've going through all kinds of things since then. It's been hard to sit and focus on anything, and this blog is one of many things in my life that have been put on hold for the near future.<br /><br />There is some good news. I'll be taking off to California for nearly three weeks next Monday. I'm looking forward to this like crazy. It's my first time travelling in a decade, and I'm planning to take in an awful lot. Two weeks after I return, I'm moving across London to start things over again, and hopefully my job will be moving with me. Once I'm settled, I'm fully intending to get back to writing again. After all, I'm only five years worth of comics behind From Crisis To Crisis, and I'll need to catch up at some point!<br /><br />Look for me after Easter when I'll hopefully be able to resume my coverage of Legends. And don't forget to follow me on twitter - <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/quizlacey">@quizlacey</a> - to keep up with all things, both geeky and non-geeky.<br /><br />I'll see you all after Easter,<br /><br />SteveEldronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433296397996649663noreply@blogger.com0